The Moth Study Group aims to encourage identification and recording of moths in the local area through:

• Supporting members in improving their moth identification skills, the provision of reference material, and links to other groups and experts.
• Encouraging monitoring of moths through observation and trapping events across the area.
• Discovering how records of moth species vary throughout the year and over time.
• Working with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and other interested groups to improve records of Cornwall's moths.

The LAPG Moths Study Group has about 10 members. Although the task of identifying one of over 2000 moths seems rather daunting, thanks to the excellent Field Guide to Moths by Waring and Townsend, our members have developed good ID skills and we are able to call on experts from the Cornwall Moths Group to identify the 'problem' moths. There are also several excellent image galleries on the web. UK Moths is particularly helpful

Moths trapping and identification provide a useful means of the habitat quality of the area, Because of the specialised feeding habits of each moth, they can be used as Indicator Species to follow any changes due to global warming, habitat changes etc.

Historical. Moths have been studied by LAPG for several years. We have owned one Heath Trap since the original Millennium Award in 2000 and Alison Jewell ran this regularly in Rezare from about 2002. We obtained 3 more Heath Traps from a Sustainable Development Award, through The Tamar Valley AONB and after training from Alison, these have been operated since 2007 by several members mostly in Altarnun, North Hill and St Clether, with an occasional survey in North Petherwin.

On top of this, many records were obtained in 2007 in Launceston by collecting moths on a south facing window, attracted by a low-energy UV lamp inside the house.

The moths recorded in 2007 in 6 parishes in the Launceston area are summarised here

The Library contains a number of images taken by members and is intended as an aid to identification. Please help the Group to build our library by submitting any new pictures with as much detail as possible. If you are unsure of the identity of the moth in your picture please start your description with a '?' so that other members of the Group can offer suggestions.