National Moth Night (NMN)
is Britain’s celebration of moths and moth recording. It was
launched in 1999
and has taken place annually since then, the date varying each year
in order to focus recording effort on
different parts of the season. Atropos
(the journal for butterfly, moth and dragonfly enthusiasts) founded
the event and it is now run jointly with Butterfly
Conservation (the UK charity taking action to save butterflies,
moths and their habitats).
NMN is all inclusive and open to anyone to take part in, both expert
and beginner alike. On the designated
date, participants throughout the British Isles are encouraged to
see what moths they can find in their chosen location and the results
are pooled into Britain’s largest survey of what species are
on the wing. Much important information has been generated on National
Moth Night, including new species for various counties, new sites
for scarce species and records of rare immigrants; amazingly, in
2008 a population of the White Prominent (a species that had not
been seen in the British Isles for 70 years) was discovered in Ireland.
As well as producing information about moths, an important aim
of the event is to raise the profile of these insects, to highlight
how attractive they are, and to raise awareness of the declines
in moth populations that
have taken place. Public events take place around the country, which
can be a great introduction to the world
of moths and stimulate some people to take up a fascinating new
interest.
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