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Fellfoot voices: Moths and their weird and wonderful names

Moths and their weird and wonderful names

Fellfoot voices blog by Lizzy Benn, Fellfoot Forward LPS trainee

Moths are abundant in the British Isles, with over 2500 recorded, and a fair amount can be found within the Fellfoot Forward Area. The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre shows that moth records account for 17% of the total of all records collected, which is surprising when you consider that they are small, nocturnal and, although some of them stand out impressively, many differentiate themselves from each other with only minute differences.

So why so many records? I think the key to this lies in the method of collecting. You can collect and record many moths at once with the assistance of a moth trap, which leaves them unharmed and free to carry on their business once you’ve had a look at them. Moth trapping is something I’ve had the pleasure of getting involved in as part of my traineeship with the Fellfoot Forward LPS and it is something I find fascinating.

Aside from the dazzling array of moths of all shapes and sizes, and the joy of taking of the lid of the moth trap and not knowing what you will find, one thing that keeps me entertained is the common names of moths. While some are seemingly appropriately named, such as the antler moth with its antler shaped wing patterns, others don’t bear much resemblance to their name, like the oddly titled elephant hawk moth with it’s striking pink and green scales. Quite often these names are centuries old and reflect things that were part of everyday life and terminology back then but seem completely alien to us now. Here is just a small selection of moths with some of their best names and the reasons behind them.

Elephant Hawk Moth

This beautiful moth is so called because its caterpillar resembles an elephant’s trunk.

Puss Moth

Perhaps I’m the only one who thought this moth’s name seemed like it might resemble a festering wound, instead it is named for its fluffy and cat-like appearance.

Scorched carpet

Carpet moths are a group of moths that are often though of as a pest species. The adults cause little damage to textiles and furnishings, but the larvae like to eat wool and other natural fibres. The scorched carpet refers to the appearance of the moth itself and its scorched looking wings, and not the effect it has on the carpets.

Beautiful snout

Snout moths have long upturned palps (mouth parts) which give the impression of the moth having a canine-like snout. This species is named for its unusual mouth and apparent eye-catching markings.

True lovers knot

A traditional knot, where two overhand knots are tied in opposite directions to each other, is called a true lovers knot. The wing markings on this species bear a resemblance to it.

Mother Shipton

Mother Shipton is a supposed witch who died in 1561. As many folklore stories tell, she predicted many monarchs’ fates, the great fire of London and the Spanish Armada. The pattern on this moth’s wing do look like a stereotypical witch figure with a large chin and hooked nose.

Drinker

This moth is named after its behaviour of drinking drops of dew found on grass stems.

Conformist and Non-conformist, The Suspected, The Confused, The Uncertain

The origin of these species names is not well known, but one can only assume that the characteristics of the non-conformist frustrated the recorder when trying to identify them. The latter all seem to be so called due to the ability to confuse them with similar looking species.

Pug Moths

There are a whole group of moths referred to as the pugs, which really are named after the toy dog breed. Their hindwings are smaller than their forewings which resembled the overbite of the pugs with a hanging upper lip.

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