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Last week, Butterfly Conservation published a report called The State of Britain's Larger Moths 2013. It makes a depressing read, demonstrating a marked decline in the number of our larger moths over the last 40 years. The survey, conducted

It's been a very good year for codling moths in our garden. I can't say I've seen many of the moths themselves, but it's obvious there are plenty of them. Each time I cut into one of the windfall apples I am met with a crumbling mouldy brown mass

I'm in love with the moth orchid. Not obsessed, no butterflies in the stomach, you understand. It's just that orchids are... perfect.What greater example of natural purity could you ask for? And unlike slipper orchids that lack generosity by only

It’s always fascinating, and stimulating, when people ask me to identify insects they’ve found in their gardens. On Monday I was stopped by one of the teachers at six-year-old’s school and shown an image of a brightly coloured moth on his phone. I

The mullein moth, Cucullia verbasci, lays its eggs on verbascum, buddleia and figwort at the end of spring. Shortly after, from late spring to midsummer, the caterpillars demolish the foliage. Bad infestations can actually strip a plant

The adult codling moths lay their eggs on or near developing fruit. These eggs hatch into small white caterpillars, which eat their way into the fruit and feed inside while it's developing. The caterpillars may be found inside the fruit at harvest

The mullein moth caterpillars in my garden are still small, but they're guaranteed to increase in size by the day. These little critters - welcomed by wildlife enthusiasts and hated by gardeners - munch their way through verbascum, figwort

A few weeks ago I wrote about moving a bumblebee nest from a friend's garden. At the end of the blog I mentioned that I'd found a wax moth in the nest.Wax moth is a native, natural predator of the bumblebee, but it's one of its biggest enemies

The caterpillars of the oak processionary moth are a real pest, but I couldn't contemplate killing them. I find myself in this situation regularly. So many so-called pests are creatures I'm quite happy to live alongside and I do so without a second

Just a couple of days after last week's posting, my own specimen of the Jersey tiger moth was flying about in the front garden. I was putting up a 'rustic' wooden arch over the front gate so that the Chinese Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus henryana