Fewer moths than there were
Across 2002–2018, the garden went from 65 moths a night to 38, a fall of 41%. It is the most important thing this record says.
See the dataThe records of Duncan Brown, 2002–2021
Twenty years of moths in a Waunfawr garden
Every week for twenty years, Duncan Brown lit a lamp in his Waunfawr garden and recorded the moths that came to it.
346 species
7,662 records
25,744 moths
20 years of recording
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Search the recordsWhat the data shows
Four things twenty years of recording say. Every figure is per trap-night: the lamp ran a different number of nights each year, so a per-night figure lets any two years be compared fairly.
Some stopped coming, some arrived
- 27 Stopped coming
- 192 Present throughout
- 14 Arrived
Setting 2002–2006 against 2014–2018: 27 species stopped coming, 14 arrived, and 192 were there throughout.
The full listThe year's heartbeat
The garden peaks in week 32, the start of August, at 144 moths a night. By Christmas, almost nothing.
See the dataDark nights bring the most
1.9 times as many moths come to the lamp under a new moon as under a full one: 55 a night against 30. The lamp ran a similar number of nights under every phase, so effort does not explain it.
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Duncan and colleagues preparing for a BioBlitz