Greeny News

Requiem for a Moth . A trapper since his student days on a farm in Lancashire, he wrote a score for texts, the beautiful name of moths list - tight black bows, frosted yellow, Isle of Wight wave and 63 others - the probably extinct in Britain in the 20th Century.

Half-a-dozen magazines now cater to enthusiasts , while brightening the small, dark, crepuscular image of moths is also central to the work of advocates such as "MP for moths" Madeleine Moon. Labour member for Bridgend since 2005, Moon is married to a professional ecologist and is the upbeat hostess of annual Moth Evenings at Westminster. Another tireless myth fighter (the only moth really notorious for trying to creep into people's ears, for instance, is the harmless flame shoulder), she points out that 89 new species established themselves in the UK over the hundred years when the 66 varieties died out. In the same period, an impressive 461 others were seen or trapped.

A trio of Tony Blair made this seat if one mothy Reference Moon slipped into a Commons debate. "I mentioned Blair 's shoulder-knot in the course of my argument," Moon says, referring to a dart-like, pearl gray species with distinctive black slashes, which is now widespread, but was the first time in Britain registered only in 1951. It was one of Dr. Blair, who had discovered the good fortune to live on the Isle of Wight, a famous first stop for new arrivals in Britain from warmer climes. He also discovered Blair 's paneling in 1945 and Blair' s coffee the following year.

Another myth about moths is that their admirers are small and dull, yet history suggests the opposite. Famous enthusiasts include the clown Joseph Grimaldi, Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita And the dashing Oriental travelers Margaret Fountaine, the collected insects, as thrilled as she has nice drag omen - Ottoman their interpreter and guide.

Scholarly authorities on moths have also shown a vein of imagination and humour at odds with the image of drabness that has clung to their subject. A twinkly pair of professors, Sir Alister Hardy and Edmund Ford (the latter's

Silence of the Lambs

There are many romantic ways of hunting moths, including the highly enjoyable process of mixing rum (a couple of generous sloshes) with a tin of treacle and smearing it on to tree trunks on a warm summer night. You will get some that way, and by researching food plants and hunting caterpillars in season – check rosebay willowherb in August for the weird, eyed, trunklike larvae of the elephant hawk. Yet nothing remotely matches a light trap, left on overnight and infallibly attracting moths for reasons still not fully understood. You can make your own; even ordinary outside lights are worth watching on warm evenings. But the Robinson Trap, designed by a famous husband-and-wife team of moth fans, is the gold standard, costing about ?300. The Skinner costs about ?250 and the simpler Heath Bucket ?80. No killing is involved, but moths need to be hidden on release to escape watchful birds. A digital camera is essential and the Waring, Townsend and Lewington guide helps hugely, although internet searches are a good alternative. Moth blogs abound and the world of enthusiasts is friendly, with women every bit as involved as men.

, is a cocktail of natural fibres, darkness, warmth and old sweat. The adult insect – small and brownish-grey – is not the direct perpetrator, but it lays the eggs that hatch the larvae, or tiny caterpillars, that then do all the munching.