Magical moths

What do you think if someone mentions moths? A dull brown version of a butterfly? Something that flutters around your outside light on a summer's evening?

Moths are pretty amazing creatures, and here are five things that you possibly didn't know:

1. There are around 2,500 different species of moths in the UK, around 800 'macro' moths (the bigger ones), and the remainder are 'micro' moths (small and need an expert to identify many of them; and, yes, many of these are brown!).

2. Moths are really important pollinators of plants, including food crops. We often think of bees when we talk about pollinators, but don't forget about moths.

3. A male moth can smell a female moth from a great distance, in some species of silkworm moth, up to seven miles away! Moths don't have a nose, but their antennae can detect odour molecules called pheromones (or, as it was described on BBC Winterwatch, "smelly sex gas")

4. An adult moth lives for about a week, and most don't eat during this final stage of their lives (they have no mouth); their sole function is to mate and, for the females, to lay eggs and start the next generation.

5. Moths are really important bird food! A few birds - such as nightjars - are specialist catchers of adult moths, but many small bird forage for caterpillars, which are rich in protein, and there are far more moth caterpillars in Britain than butterflies!

At Conwy, we have recorded 269 moth species so far. That's not bad as we have a fairly limited range of habitats, and of course, we're in wetter western Britain, and there is a greater diversity in the warmer, drier, southeast. That we have such good records for the reserve is mostly thanks to two dedicated enthusiasts: Julian Thompson (who is also the moth recorder for Caernarfonshire), and in more recent years, RSPB volunteer Bob Evans. They use light traps to lure in the moths during the hours of darkness, which means they're out here when the rest of us are tucked up in bed. Our reedbeds are home to a number of 'wainscot' moths, specialist wetland insects, and Julian recently described the reserve as "surely the best site for Wainscot moths in North Wales".

Julian and Bob also help out at some of our events, showing moths to visitors who are here for activities such as Big Wild Sleepout. Children are always fascinated by moths, amazed at the variety and colours. We'll be running moth events later in the year, so keep an eye on our website for these.

Although most moths are nocturnal, there are some we can all see easily during the day. Burnet moths and cinnabar moths are red and black, and fly during the day. We also get migrants from southern Europe here during warm weather, such as silver-Y moths.

If you want to see which moth species have been recorded here, you can download the reserve list (up to the end of 2016) below.

Finally, do you know why an error in a computer program is called a 'bug'? It's all because of a moth! In the early days of computing (1945), a failure in a machine at Harvard University was traced to a moth trapped in a relay. The moth was removed, taped to a log book, and is now at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. This popularised the use of the word 'bug' in computing - see this website for more details, and even a photo of the dead moth!

Photo: poplar hawkmoth, ruby tiger and garden tiger (Jonni Price)