Moth Trapping Event 2026

We had another great day moth trapping this year and had a good number of people attend.  It’s great to see the children enjoying holding the moths with such excitement.

Charlie Fletcher astounded us with his knowledge and speed of recognition, and Jill Warwick amazingly kept up with her speedy writing as Charlie called them out.  They worked their way through various traps located around Boston Spa, Walton and a new site in Collingham.  (Unfortunately one of the traps in Deepdale failed as there was a dodgy wire leading to the bulb and a smaller trap had to replace it, so not many moths were found there.)

Charlie also brought a pheromone trap that targeted the Lunar Hornet Moth which is such an amazing creation of mother nature as it looks just like a Hornet.

A total of 159 species were logged for the night which Charlie thinks is pretty impressive with an encouraging 8 new species found:

  • Maple Snout (Anarsia innoxiella)
  • Pine Needle-moth (Batrachedra confusella)
  • Dotted Masoner (Blastobasis vittata)
  • Rose Piercer (Aspila tenebrosana)
  • Lunar Hornet Moth (Sesia bembeciformis)
  • Cacao Moth (Ephestia elutella)
  • Reddish Light Arches (Apamea sublustris)
  • Obscure Wainscot (Leucania obsoleta)

Reddish Light Arches was the star moth of the day.  Charlie has heard of two more this year, both in the very south of the county.  Full details of all of these species with their status in the county can be found on the Yorkshire Moths’ web site.

A big thank you to Pippa Sterne for hosting the event and the people who got up early to bring in the traps from their gardens.  We are also grateful to the recorders, Charlie & Jill, and Janet Heath for their efforts in making this work so well.

Below is a list of moths that were found at each location and a gallery of photos taken:

Click here to see what was recorded in the 2024 and 2025 events.

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