Last night (18th May 2024) the Sutterby Moth trap was set up at Stickford Church
This morning, we went to look at the catch (no moths are harmed, they are all released after identification and counting). It was a cold clear windy night, so not ideal for mothing, even so there was a small number.
What is the Sutterby Moth Trap?
The moth trap is box type thing with a narrow entrance slot on the top with an ultraviolet light over it. The light is switched on just as it starts to get dark and off early morning after sun up. The box is full of pieces of egg tray. The light attracts the moths, they fall into the box and hide among the pieces of egg tray as they can not get out. In the morning we remove the light and put a cover over the box the keep the moths in. We then open the box carefully and remove a piece of egg tray to recover the box. Count and identify the moths hiding on the piece of egg box and record them. The moths are not harmed in any way and the are released back into the wild. This is repeated until all the pieces of egg box have been checked. The list of moths is then submitted to Lincolnshire records and they can assess the state of the of the air and environment. We put up the moth trap in several sites during the month to get an overall picture of our area. We don’t do in the winter as there are not many moths about, or when the moon is full as the light cannot compete with the light of the moon. This is my own version and I hope you are able to understand a bit more about how it works from it. (Reply to Facebook question)
