AUTUMN is a season of change and in many ways it feels like it arrives later each year. I’m writing in mid-October. The golden flare and ochre warmth brought about by trees as they begin to shutdown and prepare for winter has only been evident in recent days. Storms that plagued my paper-round as a youngster still seem some way off.

I trap moths in my garden through the year and have noticed that some moth species named after specific months and seasons arrive earlier than named. The September thorn moth, like the August thorn moth, appears to prefer the summer. The small autumnal moth gets the autumn season started, peaking in the first two weeks of September. I have only set eyes on its delicate grey bands once. The Autumnal rustic moth shares the time period, grey with crisp black marking etched with a writer’s quill. The rippled greens of the autumn green carpet moth have got it right, flying mid October. It will not be long until they hibernate and then emerge again next May. Tricky to distinguish from each other are autumnal moth, November moth and pale November moth. October is their desired time of flight.

Here in Yorkshire we begin to record December moth (pictured) in October; I trapped one in my garden just last week. In the south of Britain it emerges a few weeks later. Reading that December moth was described by Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, in 1758, leads me to ponder about how conditions have changed since the days of the early pioneers. December moth is certainly equipped for tough conditions, shrouded in a thick, dark fur coat that enables it to hide out of sight amongst frosted bark. The species over-winters as an egg. Maybe the eggs hatch earlier now as our springs creep ever sooner? Or maybe it is the only moth around in December? No! There is winter moth, too. An interesting creature, the female is practically wingless. Within woodland, scan trees trunks with torchlight after dark and you might get lucky and spot her luring males with seductive pheromones.

Aside from the odd nature nugget here and there, winter can feel like a time of doom and gloom in the insect world, paused for warmer days ahead. However, it will not be long before the moth spring usher (in flight late February of course), sets the scene for changes ahead and the species booms of spring and summer. March moth begins the party.

wharfedale-nats.org.uk