Moths

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Top l to r: privet hawk-moth, the mullien moth; bottom l to r: poplar hawk-moth, herald moth
© Top l to r: Roger Key/English Nature, Jill Pakenham (Avico Ltd); bottom (both images): Rob Wolton/English Nature

The adult forms of many of the moths likely to occur in gardens are very attractive and some are rather spectacular. Other than providing a source of artificial light, you can best attract them by selecting plants which produce scent at night, like evening primrose, tobacco plant (nicotiana), soapwort, honeysuckle and night-scented stock. Moth larvae eat a huge range of plant species but those most often favoured include willows, currants, poplars, bedstraws, apples, hawthorn, hop, foxglove and - like butterflies - the common stinging nettle. As most moths are nocturnal, so are their predators. Pipistrelle bats and long-eared bats will both take small night-flying species. Those which fly in late afternoon or early evening may fall prey to little owls which frequently hunt at this time. Moth caterpillars may be eaten by common lizards, toads, hedgehogs and by almost any insectivorous bird; and the larvae of larger species by kestrels. Day-flying moths are often very brightly coloured: a warning to potential predators that they may be poisonous.

Plants

Barberry, Bramble, Broad-leaved everlasting-pea, Bulrush, Burnet-saxifrage, Bush vetch, Butterbur, Chamomile, Chicory, Common evening-primrose, Common meadow-rue, Common nettle, Common rock-rose, Cowberry, Crowberry, Dame's violet, Devil's-bit scabious, Dyer's greenweed, Evening primrose, Eyebright, Fat-hen, Foxglove, Garden candytuft, Hawthorn, Hazel, Hemp-agrimony, Hoary stock, Honeysuckle, Honeysuckle, Hop, Maiden pink, Meadow buttercup, Mexican orange, Michaelmas daisy, Narrow-leaved everlasting-pea, Night-scented stock, Nottingham catchfly, Orpine, Ribwort plantain, Sea campion, Sea plantain, Sea stock, Spear thistle, Sticky catchfly, Sweet William, Tobacco plant, Tobacco plant, White campion, Woolly willow, Yellow iris

Predators

Bats, Birds, Black clock, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Brown long-eared bat, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Coal tit, Common damselbug, Common lizard, Common shrew, Common wasp, Crevice spider, Cuckoo, Cucumber green spider, Daubenton's bat, Devil's coach-horse, Dolichovespula media, Dunnock, Eriothrix rufomaculata, Fox, Garden orb-web spider, Garden warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Hornet, House martin, House spider, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Leiobunum rotundum, Little owl, Marsh tit, willow tit, Meadow pipit, Misumena vatia, Natterer's bat, Noctule bat, Pied flycatcher, Pipistrelle bat, Red ant, Redstart, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Serotine bat, Song thrush, Southern hawker dragonfly, Spotted flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tetragnatha extensa, Treecreeper, Whiskered bat, Willow warbler, Window spider, Wood mouse, Wren, Xysticus cristatus, Yellow-necked mouse, Yellowhammer

Moths

Angle shades moth, Brimstone moth, Buff ermine moth, Buff-tip moth, Burnished brass moth, Chinese character moth, Cinnabar moth, Currant clearwing moth, Dot moth, Drinker moth, Elephant hawk-moth, Eyed hawk-moth, Flame moth, Garden tiger moth, Golden plusia moth, Heart and dart moth, Herald moth, Hummingbird hawk-moth, Lackey moth, Large yellow underwing moth, Lesser yellow underwing moth, Light emerald moth, Lime-speck pug moth, Magpie moth, Marbled beauty moth, Mother of pearl moth, Peppered moth, Poplar hawk-moth, Privet hawk-moth, Puss moth, Red underwing moth, Ruby tiger moth, Silver y moth, Spectacle moth, Swallowtailed moth, Sycamore moth, The mullein moth, Twenty-plume moth, Vapourer moth, White ermine moth, White plume moth, Yellow shell moth, Yellow-tail moth