BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

16 BBC Wildlife September 2020

Amonginsects,mothsareunsung

pollinators.Diurnalspecies– especially

bees– havehoggedtheheadlines.But

inthelastyear,twosignificantstudies

byUKuniversitiesfoundthatlarge

mothsinthe‘macromoth’group,of

whichabout 800 speciesareregularly

recordedinBritain,arehighlyefficient

pollinatorstoo.Theresearchersfound

manymothswithpollen-covered

thoraxes,oneofthetopspeciesbeing

thesilverY. Thisstronglymigratory

speciesarrivesinhugenumbersfrom

continentalEurope,andinSeptember

canbeseenvirtuallyanywhere.

FINDOUTMORE Discovermoths:

butterfly-conservation.org/moths

It’s 50 yearssinceDutchElmDisease

hittheUK.Until1970,theEnglish

elmwasamongthemostabundant

deciduoustreesinthelowlands,and

a hostformanyinsects,including

stagbeetlelarvae.Today,mature

specimensarefewandfarbetween,

thoughScotlandhasescapedtheworst

ravagesofthefungus.Brightonis an

unlikelyurbanstronghold.Elsewhere,

you’remostlikelytofindanysurviving

Englishelmsinhedges,as small

saplingsor‘suckers’.

FINDOUTMORE

ReadaboutDutchElmDisease:

discoverwildlife.com/dutch-elm

7 |SILVERY MOTH

On the wing

6 |ENGLISHELM

Last survivors

Bat: Dale Sutton; elm: Laurie Campbell; moth: Genevieve Leaper

THEMEANING

OFTREES

Culturalandnatural

history of trees.

ONLINE

MostBritishbatshavea

broadlysimilarlife-cycle.By

September,theyear’scohort

ofyoungstersis weanedand

outflying,havingspentfour

ormaybefiveweekssafein

maternityroosts.It’snowa

racetoputonweightbefore

hibernation.Inexperienced

batsthatbecomeinjured,

orweakthroughfailureto

find enough insect prey, may

sadlyendupgrounded.

A groundedbatis extremely

vulnerabletodomestic

catsandotherpredators.

Meanwhile,adultbats

areturningtheir

attentiontobreeding

again.(Readmoreon

batsinQ&A,p81.)

FINDOUTMORE BatFest

starts 29 August:bats.org.uk

5 |LONG-EAREDBAT

First ights