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25 - Moths

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2012

By
Richard Fox ,
Kelvin F. Conrad ,
Mark S. Parsons ,
Martin S. Warren  and
Ian P. Woiwod
Edited by
Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
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Summary

Summary

Moths are a diverse group of insects (around 2500 species in Britain and Ireland) that make a significant contribution to our biodiversity. Despite being a species-rich group, the popularity of moth recording has made it feasible to assess rates of species colonisation and local extinction, conservation status and, for hundreds of macro-moth species, long-term population trends in Britain.

The moth fauna of Britain is constantly changing, with small numbers of species colonising the country or becoming extinct each decade. Set against this small turnover of species is the dramatic evidence of a severe decline in moth numbers, most notably in the south-east of Britain. The unique monitoring data available from the Rothamsted light-trap network show that the total number of moths captured nationally declined by almost a third between 1968 and 2002, although there was no overall decline evident in northern Britain. Two-thirds of the 337 individual species of common larger moth examined in detail had declined in abundance during that period. Over 20% of these common species have decreased so severely that they qualify as nationally threatened species under internationally recognised criteria. Such widespread declines are likely to have serious detrimental knock-on effects on other organisms and signal a wider biodiversity crisis.

Introduction

The significance of moths

Moths are one of the largest insect groups both in Britain and globally, and thus make up a significant part of our biodiversity. About 2500 species have been recorded in Britain and Ireland.

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Type
Chapter
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Silent Summer
The State of Wildlife in Britain and Ireland
 , pp. 448 - 470
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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