My first ever Ectoedemia argyropeza (Aspen Dot) mines today - a scarce species in Devon, but easy to find outside a motorway Travelodge in Leicestershire #teammoth

Seven Palpita vitrealis in the garden last night, which is a new record - never had more than 2 before. 25 Udea ferrugalis and a couple of Silver Y the only other migrants. Merv & Blair’s Mocha the best of the locals. #Teammoth

A project to restore ancient forests in the Scottish Highlands is significantly boosting moth biodiversity, a Butterfly Conservation study has found. 🌳 Read the full story 👉 buff.ly/AyKPh6e 📷: Patrick Cook, Sarah Wanless #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

Acleris notana (Tawny Birch Tortrix) found as a larva in a spun birch leaf at Yarner Wood, Devon back in August. The adult emerged the following month and identification was confirmed by gen. det. #teammoth

Jupiter painting butterflies - Dosso Dossi c.1524 #Krakow

I’ve found the mines and larva of Bucculatrix bechsteinella (Hawthorn Tuft) before but this is the first adult I’ve seen - caught in my garden moth-trap in July and confirmed by gen. det. Love the little tuft of black scales in the middle of each forewing. #teammoth

Moths need darkness to thrive 🖤 But globally, light pollution is increasing by 10% a year, and these vital nocturnal pollinators need our help. Find out how you can provide a haven for moths where you live by creating Moon Meadows 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/moon-meadows... 📷: Marian Coburn

Slightly better moth trap haul this morning including first Yellow-line Quakers of the year and only my second Merv of the autumn. Good to see Feathers McThorn too (kudos to @mavisbickle.bsky.social for officially renaming Feathered Thorn!) #teammoth

We're thrilled to share this film featuring some of the dedicated volunteers who monitor butterflies for the UKBMS A huge thank you to them, and everyone who's supported the scheme over the last 50 years. #UKBMS50 youtu.be/OrF5AgseX1U?...

There are still plenty of leaf mines about - this Stigmella atricapitella (Black-headed Dot) was NFY for me at the weekend on an oak by the village playing field. #teammoth

Stigmella glutinosae (White-barred Alder Dot) mine found in the village today on Alder. The larva exited the mine (before photo was taken) but enabled me to see its dark, ventral, prothoracic plate which rules out S. alnetella. #teammoth

Larva of Teleiodes luculella (White Crescent) that I found at the weekend - it lives between two oak leaves that it has spun flat together and on which it also feeds. #teammoth

Fascinating Swedish study proving that threatened butterflies can still disperse surprisingly long distances eg Marsh Fritillary >8km and more than 10% of Large Blues travelled at least 1km resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🌍

Belated ID of Gypsonoma oppressana (Mottled Grey Tortrix) feeing signs on poplar in Sept thanks to the fine folk at the leaf miners Facebook group. I thought you needed to see the larva to ID this species but the mine along the mid-rib is distinctive apparently. Every day’s a school day. #teammoth

Really nice paper from @tiff-ki.bsky.social & co. shows no overall decline in butterfly species richness in Sulawesi over 166 yrs, but changing communities with endemics & forest specialists declining. Short-term trends unreliable measures of long term. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🌏

Garden record of three Blair’s Mocha on Tues night. Couldn’t get them to all pose together but this was the nicest one #teammoth

Some nice leafmines from a brief search in Glos last Friday with Guy Meredith: Coptotriche angusticollella (Rose Blotch-miner), Stigmella pyri (Pear-tree Dot), S. poterii (Burnet Dot) & Ectoedemia arcuatella (Strawberry Dot). All Nationally Scarce #teammoth

This little moth (Plutella porrectella Streaked Diamond-back) in my garden last night was the big one!! My 1,000th moth species of the year in the UK! #teammoth

A couple of dark little moths from my garden in June have been confirmed as Grapholita funebrana (Plum Fruit Moth) & G. lobarzewskii (Small Fruit Moth). The latter was a new species for the garden. #teammoth

Amazing what some cloud cover can do - 5 NFY species in the garden trap last night after several weeks of not seeing anything new here: Barred Sallow, Green-brindled Crescent, Blair’s Shoulder-knot & Black Rustic, plus a Merveille du Jour that didn’t stay for the team photo. #teammoth

Surprised and delighted to find my first ever larval case of Coleophora violacea (White-tipped Case-bearer) on elm yesterday in a Worcestershire hedgerow. The feeding damage is distinctive as it pierces both surfaces of the leaf. #teammoth

The books say that mines of Stigmella myrtillella (Bilberry Dot) are hard to find and I’d agree. Thankfully I eventually found my first one ever yesterday evening (in Leicestershire) after quite a lot of searching. Egg on underside near mid-rib as is typical for this species. #teammoth

Excellent day in Nottingham celebrating the 50th anniversary of the fabulous @ukbms.bsky.social

Coleophora kuehnella (Cloaked Case-bearer) from back in June at a local site. ID confirmed thanks to a gen. det. by Tony Davis. It’s a rarely recorded species in Devon and one I’d not seen before this year - now seen the adult and the larval case at different sites. #teammoth

This was a bit of a surprise when turning over apple leaves looking for leaf miners - Pale Tussock moth caterpillar 🐛 #teammoth

Blair’s Mocha emergence is starting. This lovely individual was in the garden trap this morning, a different one from yesterday. #teammoth

Amazed to see my first ever Dusky-lemon Sallow on a very cold evening in south Devon this week. A rare species in Devon with only a handful of records this century. #teammoth

Really looking forward to speaking in Wiltshire tomorrow about the impacts of climate change on UK butterflies & moths butterfly-conservation.org/events/wilts...

Finished September with lifer number 90 for the year with mines of Chrysoesthia drurella (Fiery Miner) at Dawlish Warren with Kevin Rylands. Seems to be a very scarce moth in Devon, though presumably it is also under-recorded. Brings me to 968 moth species for the year so far. #teammoth

Early mines of Ectoedemia erythrogenella (Coast Dot) on the east Devon coast on Sunday - a scarce species on bramble. The egg is clearly visible on the upper surface of the leaf. #teammoth

Lifer today when this Caloptilia falconipennella (Dark Alder Stilt) emerged from a larva I found on Alder at Dawlish Warren earlier this month. #teammoth

Slow going adding NFY moths at the moment with cold nights every night. Thankfully Oak Lutestrings were out in force at our local hotspot for this species on Friday night. This perfect Flounced Chestnut was the only other NFY. #teammoth

This might be my best ever Vestal - from the garden moth-trap last night 😍 #teammoth

Another early stage lifer for me from Norfolk last week with James Symonds - Mompha terminella (Enchanter's Mompha) #teammoth

Its week 26, the final week of our 50th survey season! 🎺 🎉 🦋 🥳 A HUGE thank you to all the fantastic volunteers for walking transects, recording butterflies and entering data this year. Your efforts greatly contribute to our understanding of butterfly populations and helps us conserve them ❤️

A few Coleophora from Norfolk last week with James Symonds. First two are scarce and were lifers for me: C. albicans (Wormwood Case-bearer), C. deviella (Blite Case-bearer), C. peribenanderi (Thistle Case-bearer) & C. lineolea (Woundwort Case-bearer) #teammoth

Anomalous from a local heathland on Friday night - a strange looking moth (hence the name) that apparently used to be known as the False Footman. #teammoth

Cochylidia heydeniana (Blue Fleabane Straw) was a new species for me in the Brecks this week. The larvae mine the flowerheads of Blue Fleabane. #teammoth

Celebrating 50 years of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme! 🎉 Join us for a day of butterfly talks, workshops and a celebration of volunteer citizen science. Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/tsGqc4S 📸: Iain H Leach #UKBMS50

Thought it might be too late in the year, so I was delighted to find a Scarce Pug larva on the Norfolk coast yesterday - a lifer for me and a Nationally Rare species #teammoth

A little bit of moth trapping in the Brecks last night added a few NFY including Autumnal Rustic & Lunar Yellow Underwing #teammoth

On average, #BigButterflyCount participants recorded 10.3 butterflies per 15-minute count 🦋 While a marked improvement on 2024’s record low of 7.2, it is only broadly average by modern standards, and has done little to reverse longer-term declines. 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfl...

Excited to be with countless UK nature recovery organisations at @wildsummituk.bsky.social today - lots of talk about how to turn around insect declines

Butterflies need our help. If you’re in the UK please sign and share. 🦋 @savebutterflies.bsky.social #pesticides butterflyemergency.good.do/rescue-missi...

The #BigButterflyCount results are in and it's official... 2025 was an average year for butterflies. See the full results and what can be done to help butterflies and moths 👇 https://butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfly-count-results-2025

Busted! 👀 One of these Sea Rush seedheads is not like the others. Coleophora maritimella in action this evening at Dawlish Warren #teammoth

Larva of Chrysoesthia sexguttella (Orange-spotted Miner) in its mine down by the river Teign yesterday - a new species for me. #teammoth

📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝

Back from holiday and back on the moth hunt - larva of Antispila petryi (Dogwood Cutter) in its mine on Dogwood today brought me up to 903 moth species in the UK this year so far. My joint highest ever total for a year, and with four months still to go! #teammoth

Pygmy Cormorants at Lake Skadar, Montenegro, another new species for me. One was helpfully stood next to a regular Cormorant to provide scale