Observations From a Grumpy Old Moth-man

Several contributors have described 2017 as ‘a good year’. But I must admit I didn’t find 2017 to be special at all.

My formative years as a moth-hunter were in the ’60s. I remember buying some second-hand books at an AES exhibition around 1965 (titles included ‘Days with a Butterfly Net’ and ‘A Moth-hunter’s Gossip’), which were written in the ’30s and were lamenting the decrease in butterflies and moths that had occurred in the 1900s. When I explored some of the best British sites and habitats in the mid-60s I found many species had declined or disappeared since those books were written – in fact the ‘40s and ’50s were considered black decades for wildlife conservation. Then in 1980 I went to live in Northumberland and when I came back south, to Suffolk in 2005, I was disheartened to see how sparse most moths had become in the meantime: it was something I hadn’t expected. And having exhumed my Suffolk garden records from a decade ago I find the total numbers of moths has decreased again: the best nights in late July/August 2017 are only 60% of what they were in the ‘average’ years of the mid ‘00s.

So, in my mostly ‘anecdotal’ experience, we are now seeing only fractions of fractions of what moths were around a century or so ago (I would hazard an estimate of less than 5%). The decline has been continuous and has accelerated. The future isn’t looking bright.

I must admit, I wasn’t here in June/early July so I missed the best of ’17. I spent those balmy (too hot) weeks in France: I have always thought the ‘typical’ French countryside resembles what Britain was like fifty to a hundred years ago, but French naturalists are quick to point to a similar decline in moth numbers there. There seems to be no way to escape the eco-disaster that may be unfolding.

If I was a teenager now I hope I would be more optimistic. Having spent most of my life in conservation and environmental education I can’t help but think my generation has failed – we have spawned Donald Trump and global warming, and have supported, by proxy, the despoliation and sterilisation of the British countryside. Not to mention the advent of Boris Johnson, Ant and Dec and neonicotinoids. Maybe we don’t deserve any better.

Sorry for this unseemly rant, but it’s probably better out than in. My only moth sighting this past week has been a dotted border at the kitchen window. But it’s a pretty creature and it gave me a lot of pleasure.

Tony H.

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One Response to Observations From a Grumpy Old Moth-man

  1. Raymond Watson says:

    I think you may have overdone it a bit Tony, with the 5%. However it is undoubtedly the case that humans are taking over this planet to the determent of all other species except those we wish to keep for our own benefit. We have sped up the geological time scale of heating/cooling on our planet and are in the process of heading into a heating era of mass extinction. I think that will include us humans too but how long it will take is impossible to know. I don’t see that the present day teenagers who have any knowledge of what is happening have any serious hope for the long term future. Perhaps Elon Musk’s colonisation of Mars is the way out for our species! I started my Lepidopterist activities in the mid 60s and dropped it in the early 70s for several unavoidable reasons. I do not have anything I compare total numbers or species with the current day as the locations and methodology differ. I would also point out that whilst species in the UK have apparently declined there have been species added to our list from immigrants establishing and spreading here. Global warming has its drawbacks but it is encouraging some species.

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