Nature in your local patch
OPAL West Midlands: Nature in your local patch
A Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus) (Photograph: Jon Sadler)
Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) (Photograph: Jon Sadler)
Lunar Marbled Brown (Drymonia ruficornis) (Photograph: Jon Sadler)
Night time ecology: moths
OPAL West Midlands are happy to be working in partnership with the Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to carry out this research. The GMS began in 2003 in the West Midlands, but was expanded into a national scheme in 2006 and included over 100 recorders in 2007. We are supporting the GMS by:
1. supplying resources and materials to make more budding naturalists aware of how they can take part in the scheme;
2. helping the scheme analyse their valuable data in the most appropriate way for the public and wider scientific community.
1. supplying resources and materials to make more budding naturalists aware of how they can take part in the scheme;
2. helping the scheme analyse their valuable data in the most appropriate way for the public and wider scientific community.
In the UK there are 56 species of butterfly, but over 2,400 species of moth. However, the more familiar, day-flying butterflies are far more appreciated and receive much more attention than their largely night-flying cousins. This is a shame because as well as being a much more biodiverse group than the butterflies, moths are also important pollinators, are also suffering wide-spread declines in the UK, and have many beautiful species. The best thing about moths for the budding naturalist is that you can use their natural attraction to light to make them come to you! Find out more here.
Get involved:
The GMS will be running a number of training events supported by OPAL West Midlands and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, which will introduce members of the public to methods of moth sampling and identification. In addition, the GMS will be producing introductory leaflets to moth sampling, and a series of identification guides to difficult groups.
The GMS will be running a number of training events supported by OPAL West Midlands and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, which will introduce members of the public to methods of moth sampling and identification. In addition, the GMS will be producing introductory leaflets to moth sampling, and a series of identification guides to difficult groups.
