tiger moths (1 Viewer)

where have all the tigers gone.the tiger moth was a common sighting when i was a child.now i am not going back that far,no more than 25 years ago.the problem being i have not seen one in about ten years.two years ago i started to look for them in my area,with no luck.last year i was asking people on my estate if they had seen one.i even went to great lengths in showing children pictures from some of my books.i had the same result.i was wondering if anyone else seems to be missing tiger moths in their areas.i have also been wondering how many tigers have been trapped last year,and if anyone has noticed a drop in their numbers over the last few years. :-C

I've not had a garden tiger in my garden in the two years I've been trapping (plenty of ruby tigers, though).
You'll probably have seen the recent research published by Butterfly conservation that shows that many moth species have declined over the last 30 years (particularly in southern England).
Ken

hello surreybirder.yes i have seen the report,its one of the reason i have asked.its just that for what was once a common moth to become so scarce is quite worrying.the larval food plants are still there.i have talked to another chappy that lives on the same estate as me.he got recounting the storys of when he was a child.hes a bit older than me,and he remembers collecting them in jam jars during the 1960s.apparantly it was not a problem filling the jar.there also seems to be less cinnabar moth larva then there was about 5 years ago.this year i will try again to see a garden tiger.i have not used a moth trap,but i will be setting one up by summer.hopefully in time for national moth night.i live in a built up area,so i have to be careful about too much light,i also need a trap that takes up very little space when not in use.i was thinking about one of the moonlander traps.are they any good?

Hello, Snowdragon.
Cannot advise on moonlander traps, I'm afraid. I use an 80W MV or a 25W Actinic. The latter would not cause offence to any neighbours as it's similar to the fly-zapping lights you see in fish and chip shops (and elsewhere)--a rather friendly blue glow.
There are a couple of other moth'ers from Wilts on this forum so you might be able to get some help from one of them.

Cinnabars seem common enough round here but we do have a lot of ragwort (even in one field which has horses in it) though I thought they were slightly scarcer last year than in the few previous ones. The only garden tiger I've ever seen was in Northumbria.
Ken

there are quite a range of moth traps on the market.the actinic bulb would suit garden better,so i would be happy to use it.started to turn my attentions towards a skinner trap.they seem to be a well tried and tested design and a good place to start.they seem resonably priced as well.some of them look as if they come apart which will make storage easier.what traps are you using at the moment.

Mine are both modifications of the Robinson design but lots of people seem to get on well with Skinners. Obviously, collapsable ones are useful if you are short of storage space. There are numerous threads in Birdforum on the relative merits of various traps and where to buy them (or the electrical components from). Those who like to take their traps out into the wilds obviously go for the light-weight ones. I bought my actinic trap from Paul Batty (in Yorkshire, I think). And he is certainly a reliable dealer. I'll add his URL once I've found it!
Ken

http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/kits/index.html
Also, have a look at post #15 on this thread: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=24965
The Anglia Lepidopterists site has a very good guide to moth-trapping, too.
http://www.angleps.btinternet.co.uk/guide.htm

Garden Tiger is still pretty common here in wilts,also west Berks.

Colin.

snowdragon said:

there are quite a range of moth traps on the market.the actinic bulb would suit garden better,so i would be happy to use it.started to turn my attentions towards a skinner trap.they seem to be a well tried and tested design and a good place to start.they seem resonably priced as well.some of them look as if they come apart which will make storage easier.what traps are you using at the moment.

Click to expand...

I have always used Robinsons fitted with mv units of various wattage (125 being the most versatile)but then I have never had to worry about neighbours, having said that it only needs a small disk on a bit of stiff wire to shade houses out.

Colin.

PS as home builds go, Pete H's Robinson trap based on a Wickes Garden tub is the best I have seen, and looks better build quality than a Watkins and Doncaster one!