It has been ten years since I graduated from Linacre with an MSc in Learning and Teaching. I expected to continue my teaching practice in bringing to life GCSE maths within the mechanical engineering curriculum, with the added zest of my MSc studies. If someone had told me that I would be writing to you in 2025, extolling the benefits of recording moths, I would have called them insane! But that is exactly what I am doing, having already gained support for this from our Principal, Nick Leimu-Brown.
After college mergers and campus closures, redundancy beckoned. I felt the time was right to return into the world of engineering for employment, but the right employment. Somewhere where I felt I was making a difference. Eventually a job came up at Watkins and Doncaster. Nestled in the woody Herefordshire countryside, Watkins and Doncaster is a small family firm, established in 1874 specialising in all things entomology. As lead engineer, I soon discovered that the majority of my time would be consumed with making humane moth traps. Why (I thought to myself), do so many people want to trap moths?
I was making moth traps that were exported all over the world and still are. Well, I just couldn’t help getting interested in moths, I think it goes with the territory. I learnt much from my boss Amy, who is the third generation of owners since her Grandfather, Richard Ford, bought the company in 1941. Her parents, Robin and Julia Ford, are still active in the business, making nets and parts for moth traps, even though they are well in to their retirement.
Most moth trappers upload the results of their catch to the Butterfly Conservation website in the form of what, how many, where and when. Before releasing them back into the environment. These results are used to inform the current situation of the moth population nationwide and the species within the population. You may not be surprised to hear that the moth population is dwindling. The detrimental effect on the environment is, that with fewer moths, there are fewer night-time pollinators and plant life regeneration suffers. Also, there is less food in the food chain, mainly for birds, therefore, this is having an adverse effect on the bird population. Moths provide a window in to the current situation of our eco-system.
One of our aims, in conjunction with Butterfly Conservation, is to encourage more people to record moths. As I am sure you already appreciate, the larger the sample, the more accurate the results, therefore, more informed decisions can be made on conservation strategies to reverse any adverse effects.
Robin told me that since he was a young boy, learning about the family business, he has seen the industry change from collector driven, to conservation driven. Furthermore, when he was leading the company, he recalls a customer who purposely cultivated a few acres of his ground and sowed it with unusual wildflower and caterpillar food plants. This was to attract a wider variety of moths and butterflies. He obtained outstanding results. In effect, creating what Butterfly Conservation are calling a ‘Moon Meadow’.
Whilst I realise that it is not possible for us all to go to these lengths, there are still small things that most people can do. Whether that be recording moths and uploading results, or, taking Butterfly conservation advice and reducing light pollution for moths. The effects of light pollution have been clearly evident to both myself and Amy as we conduct moth trap trials with identical traps. I am trapping very little in an urban location, whilst Amy’s catch is considerably higher in her rural setting. A customer in Northern Ireland, who has been trapping for twenty-five years, advocates that in his ever-growing urban area, he has noticed a substantial drop in moth numbers, due to increased housing and lighting. Last year, when his local council left a small area of grassland uncut, moth numbers and the types of species increased significantly.
I am hoping that I can convince Nick to create a Moon Meadow area at Linacre College, then trap and record the results. Small innovations such as these can do much to show that we are leading the way in conservation, as the greenest college in Oxford. In the meantime, Linacrites recording and uploading the moth activity in their area would also be greatly appreciated!
