Rare Moth In Alderney

For the first time, a southern brindled green moth has been spotted in Alderney.

The Alderney Wildlife Trust says there have only ever been around eight sighting in Britain. Rowie Burcham from the Trust says its wings are a complex pattern:

"It’s a fairly small moth and its wingspan is just under 30 mm. It’s got quite an intricate pattern on its top and it’s got different shades of white and cream and brown. And it has that green to it as the name would suggest."

Rowie says the Trust uses a powerful light bulb to entice moths into their trap overnight:

"The moths are attracted to it, and within the actual trap, the most common way to do it is to have empty egg boxes, which they rest on, or will hide in. We then turn it off and cover it up in the morning and then go back to it and record all the moths that we see."

Given the moth is such a rare visitor to Britain, let alone the small island of Alderney, Rowie believes that it was blown in from the continent:

"Just because we managed to record it doesn't imply that it's breeding here. There have been quite a few southerly winds lately, so it's likely that it's blown over from France."

She says moths are under appreciated and are effective pollinators, even though most don't live more than a few days:

"If you've got a lot of moths then that shows you've got a healthy environment, as moths are really beneficial to our environment."

The find of the southern brindled green moth has been logged with the UK garden moth scheme.