James Lowen - British Moths: A Gateway Guide

Lime Hawk-moth is particularly associated with urban areas.

One summer, my eyes were opened to the joy of moths thanks to a glorious Poplar Hawk-moth shown to me by a friend. He had caught the moth that morning in his garden and brought it round to show me. A couple of springs later I invested in a moth trap, and have never looked back. A burgeoning fascination with these insect underdogs long seemingly confined to the shadow of the sun-loving butterflies has prompted wide, extensive travels. But above all, it has opened my eyes to the diversity of moths residing in and around my modest suburban garden.

As I write this, it is only six years since that inaugural Summer of Moth a period so short that I can still keenly feel the difficulties I faced in identifying the moths that first graced our trap. Granted, magnificent field guides were available. But they contained a daunting number of similar-looking species described in befuddling terminology. I struggled with these books as best I could, complementing their advice with internet searches and emails to friends. During those first few confusing summers, how I yearned for a field guide that made moths easy one that focused on a manageable number of the common, widespread moths I was most likely to catch, and left aside the rarer or more localised species to avoid exacerbating confusion.

This book aims to be that field guide the one I wish Id had as an incipient moth-er. As its title suggests, this book hopefully serves as a gateway both to moths and to the other, comprehensive, detailed and excellent field guides about them.

James Hunter first revealed the wonder of moths to me. Subsequently, I have learnt about these creatures from a large number of people, many within a local WhatsApp group, but none more so than my friend Will Soar, to whom I am eternally indebted. My knowledge would have been nothing without books written or illustrated by Sean Clancy, Richard Lewington, Chris Manley, Mark Parsons, Zo Randle and colleagues, Phil Sterling, Martin Townsend and Paul Waring whose publications are listed lists those whose images are used. Many of my own images here stem from moths trapped in our Norfolk garden: for the freedom to do so, I thank my wife Sharon and daughter Maya. Finally, I thank Jim Martin and Jenny Campbell at Bloomsbury Wildlife for making this book happen; D & N Publishing for their work on the design; David Hawkins and Susi Bailey for their work on the text; and Angie Hipkin for compiling the index.