Everyone loves bees and butterflies, but now moths are coming into the spotlight (as long as they don’t fly around it). The moth expert Charles Waters has seen a surprisingly rapid increase in interest in moths from the younger generation as, he believes, people become more aware of their beauty and diversity, as well as their importance as pollinators. “Moths are more significant pollinators because there’s so many of them.
In the UK, there are 59 butterfly species, but there are 2,500 moth species,” he said. At the Moonshadow moth garden at the Hampton Court Palace garden festival, which began this week, he showed off a variety of caterpillar- and moth-friendly plants. British native wildflowers which moths love include wild strawberry, scabious and knapweed.
The Moodshadow garden also boasted a large and colourful buddleia bush that is enjoyed by butterflies and moths alike, and has “messy” areas with long grass, and wood and twigs for the moths to rest on. “I’m secretary of the Sussex Moth Group ,” Walker said, “and the number of members is growing quickly, and that’s because people are much more aware and much more interested, which can only be a good thing.” The increase includes young people, too.
“The age range used to be old fuddy-duddies – I would say like me but I’m only 65. There are some 85-year-olds who have been catching moths for 50 years but we are now getting an influx of younger people.” Moths have often been ignored in favou.
