The day-flying scarlet tiger flashes its dramatic underwings as a warning to predators that it’s poisonous. The caterpillars, known as ‘woolly bears’, have irritant hairs and are only eaten by cuckoos. 

Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi

Resting with its hind wings projected forwards, the poplar hawk-moth has a sculptural outline. Hold one on your palm and it takes several minutes of vibrating its wings before it can fly.

Large Emerald Geometra papilionaria

Every bit as colourful and large as a butterfly, this beautiful jade-green moth has delicately scalloped wings. It rests like a butterfly, too, with its wings spread out. 

Merveille du Jour Griposia aprilina

Flying in autumn, the fabulous merveille du jour really lives up to its name. Wings are frosted green with sharply patterned black-and-white markings, camouflaged when seen against lichen.

Silver Y Autographa gamma

An immigrant species, silver Ys are seen as a blur of grey wings in daytime as they fly rapidly between flowers. When they settle, you can clearly see a white Y shape on their forewings.

Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa

Camouflaged to look like a crumpled dead leaf, angle shades has pinkish brown markings on creased and folded wings. Often seen in gardens by day, it’s the moth that first got me hooked.

Buff-tip Phalera bucephala

The markings of this remarkable moth mimic a broken birch twig. Mottled silver-grey wings resemble birch bark while dark edging lines emphasise buff patches, the colour of pale wood.

Emperor Moth Saturnia pavonia

Emperor moths have four large eye spots to deter birds. Males can detect the scent of females from several kilometres away; you can buy pheromone lures to attract this spectacular species.

December Moth Peocilocampa populi

Flying in the middle of winter, the charcoal-coloured December moth looks like it’s wearing a furry hat and warm clothing. Males, though smaller than the females, have impressive feathered antennae. 

Buff Arches Habrosyne pyritoides

This extraordinary moth sports a combination of smooth grey wings overlaid with orange-brown wavy markings that distort the sense of space like a piece of 1960s psychedelia. 

Best garden plants for attracting moths

Nicotine plant Nicotiana alata

Not all moths drink nectar, but night-scented flowers will attract those that do. Grow species with short tubes, such as Nicotiana alata rather than N. sylvestris.

Sweet rocket Hesperis matronalis

With a sweet yet spicy scent, this is a mid-height cottage garden favourite that self-seeds easily. Flowers vary between white, mauve and purple.

Catmint Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’

This large catmint flowers from July to October and is a magnet for bees, hoverflies and day-flying moths, such as silver Y.

White rosebay willowherb Chamaenerion angustifolium ‘Album’

Though it is invasive, I grow white rosemary willowherb as a food plant for elephant hawk-moth caterpillars. Stately and serene, it has waving tall white plumes.

BuddleJa Buddleja davidii

Also called the butterfly bush, buddleja produces an abundance of nectar-rich flowers that butterflies and moths find irresistible. 

Wallflower Erysimum cultivars

Richly scented spring bedding, wallflowers provide early season nectar along with bluebells. Perennial wallflower ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ attracts hummingbird hawk-moths.

Honeysuckle Lonicera

Moths with long probosces can feed on nectar deep in the tubular flowers of honeysuckle. Leaves are food for caterpillars of the early grey and twenty-plume moth.

Knapweed Centaurea nigra

Adult moths take nectar from both native and non-native plants but caterpillars need natives. Meadow flower knapweed is the larval food-plant of several species.

Marjoram Origanum vulgare 

Purple and scented, marjoram flowers provide nectar for many insects, including moths. It’s the larval food-plant of the beautiful metallic-sheened burnished brass moth.

How to make a moth trap

Trapping moths does not hurt them and I let them go the following night. It’s similar to bird surveying with a mist net: catch without harming, identify and release. There are several types of trap but the one I prefer to use is a Robinson. Moths are drawn by the light of a bright bulb and funnelled down into the large black tub below. I line this with egg cartons so there are plenty of places to hide, setting the trap just before dusk and turning the light off at dawn. It’s a race to get there before the robin who might take advantage of an easy meal.