British Moths

The final selection of moths is a bit of a haphazard mixture, but despite being labelled as “British Moths” this drawer more accurately displays a “selection of East Lothian Moths” than the previous ones. There are rather too many specimens crammed into the available space making it feel a bit like a selection of left-overs and the overall result is a much less pleasing visual display. There are even a couple of pins with more than one specimen on – a definite space-saving technique! – and there are a few which look like they have been set in a hurry. There were many more specimens in need of repair in this drawer than the previous ones. Nearly all labelled specimens are from Scotland and all the species shown could have been found in the Forth region at the time. Notable specimens are the Silver striped Hawk-moth from Edinburgh – an exciting find, the detail of which appeared as an article in the Scottish Naturalist. Here we learn that it was ‘easily taken from a chrysanthemum’ by William Evans’ neighbour, who stuck it on the wall of his tool shed ‘by means of a stout pin’ from where William Evans collected it several months later!

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There are a series of Oblique Carpet, a moth that William Evans mentions in an article noting they were “abundant at Luffness marsh on evenings of 10th and 12th July 1895”. There have been no other records of this species in East Lothian so it is frustrating that none of these specimens have any date or location details associated with them. They may well have been the Luffness moths he mentions, but we can’t be sure.

Many of the moths in this drawer were collected at various Scottish Lighthouses, in particular Isle of May and Killantringan. William Evans had a project in the 1910s in which he encouraged lighthouse keepers around Scotland to send him moths that had been attracted to their lanterns. He published the findings in a couple of papers in the Scottish Naturalist 1914 and in this drawer are some of the moths listed in these publications. Nothing particularly unusual or questionable, but interesting to see the specimens themselves. The study itself was a fascinating one – I wonder what turns up at these (now automated) lighthouses today – and the papers, commenting on what was known of moth migration back then are interesting to read.

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