Moths and many more flying insects are in decline in Mayo
COUNTRYFILE
WHEN it comes to tidying and sweeping corners of the garden in preparation for spring growth, there are two schools of thought.
The first, and the more tradtional, is to clear away all dead and decomposing material. The second is to let it lie where nature placed it.
This latter option is by far the more appealing, not just because it is considerably easier (on the day) to embark on a course of inaction than it is to fish the garden fork out from the back of the shed and get to work.
The ground is presently far too soft to start hummocking up and down over it. Anyway, beneath those drifts of sodden leaves, in among the dead stalks and straws of last year's growth, many beneficial creatures are presently sleeping these cooler weeks away.
If we disturb them now, they won’t be out and about later, doing the work for which they were designed.
The larvae of many moths will be hibernating in dark, damp corners where an insulating layer of leaves keeps them well protected from winter frost.
And moths are among the most underrated of all our wild creatures. Not only are they exceedingly beautiful, they operate as important pollinators of wild flowers.
Without moths we would be without many of our spring and summer plants, not only in the garden but outside as well.
We are all aware of moth numbers being in decline, together with a great many other flying insects.
Driving home from Castlebar was once like driving through a summer blizzard, so great was the number of insects we would encounter.
Last year I made an effort to count the number of moths picked up by my car headlights along that 12-mile drive at the peak of moth season. The result?
About 40 – some big, some small. That equates to about four for each mile driven, or one every 300 or 400 yards, which isn’t nearly enough.
Why were there so few? Pesticides and herbicides certainly take their toll, but that alone surely cannot account for such a low count.
Given the vast tracts of farmland, bog, woodland and the rest that surround us, surely the small difference we could make in leaving a few small drifts of sticks and leaves is immaterial. We might think so, but in an increasingly beleaguered world, every corner counts.
But what about the slugs and snails that find refuge in those same corners? As soon as things warm up a bit, these will get to work doing the thing they do best, making more of their own kind.
There is another little beast that plays an important role in garden biodiversity. Did you ever hear of ground beetles? These apex predators of the invertebrate world spend their waking hours patrolling their patch in search of slugs and snails at every stage of their development.
And where do these beneficial beetles spend the winter? Tucked up tight under piles of leaves, that’s where. If we clear away our ground beetles, the creatures they prey upon will proliferate.
Those interested in meeting with a ground beetle or two could try the following. Take a paper cup and place it in the ground, with the top just about flush with the soil.
Place a few dead leaves in the bottom, together with a small piece of raw meat. Attracted by the smell of flesh, ground beetles will clamber into the cup for a free feed.
When they find themselves unable to escape they will hide under the leaves to await inspection and release.