Scottish moths studied
TO say I have been looking forward to reviewing this longawaited publication would be a vast understatement. There has, somewhat unbelievably, never been a book on Scottish moths. So, this title by two giants of the Scottish mothing scene was desperately needed.
The Larger Moths of Scotland covers the macro moths – specifically those that have occurred at least once in Scotland, which gives a grand total of 577 species to cover.
Firstly, the book is large, approximately A4 size, and as such will act as a reference rather than a guide that you would take into the field with you. It has a stunning cover showcasing one of Strathspey’s special moths, Kentish Glory, on the front and a Bedstraw Hawk-moth on the back.
Prior to the publication of this book, anyone mothing in Scotland looking for distribution maps would have to look at either the Atlas of Britain and Ireland’s Larger Moths or the excellent online resource that is Butterfly Conservation East Scotland’s branch website. The atlas has data up to 2016 – but the pace of change in Scotland’s moth distribution is incredible and already a lot of the maps in that publication look decidedly out of date. It’s a credit to the authors who have recognised how quickly things are changing that they made massive efforts to include the most recent records.
So, who would want to buy this book and what would they use it for? For mothers resident in Scotland it will be used to see how a particular species is distributed within their own vice-county recording area. For visiting mothers, perhaps coming up for a trip to see the Speyside specialities or the burnet moths, it gives a taste of what you might expect in the areas that you are visiting. It is not an identification book, but it does make a real effort to include photographs of actual specimens from Scotland.
The introductory sections of the book deal with factors influencing moth distributions in Scotland, how they have developed and the various Scottish forms. The resident and regular migrants receive full accounts which include a distribution map, details of habitat, population trend and a flight histogram. As well as this there is a ‘recording issues’ section alongside each species, which I kept getting drawn to – it is written from the point of view of a recorder and offers gems of information from a lifetime of ‘in the field’ observations.
So, to the maps! Most of my moth trapping is done in Strathspey, so it was the Speyside specialities that I turned to first. Kentish Glory showed all the recent increase in the south of the region from the great work by Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms and others using pheromone lures. Rannoch Brindled
Beauty shows an incredible change from the 2016 data, highlighting the hugely significant populations found in Sutherland. The Small Dark Yellow Underwing and Netted Mountain Moth maps make for worrying viewing as these species seemingly ebb away.
There is an interesting section at the end of the book detailing plausible additions to the Scottish list, as well as a list of adventives – those moths where accidental introduction by humans is suspected.
The authors, Roy Leverton and Mark Cubitt, are to be congratulated as well as all the county moth recorders and others who have contributed vast amounts of time and knowledge to this project. It is a phenomenal piece of work and will quite rightly be the foundation stone for all future Scottish mothing. Should you buy it? Yes!
“It is a phenomenal piece of work and will quite rightly be the foundation stone for all future Scottish mothing. Should you buy it? Yes!”