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Originally Posted by Spiritwood  Forgive me if this topic has already been covered elsewhere on the site (I haven't been able to find any previous mention), but does anyone here breed UK Moths to release in order to boost the declining local population?
I'm attempting to rear Eyed Hawk Moths and hopefully Garden Tigers this year and would be interested in hearing from anyone else who might be doing something similar.
Thanks |
my thoughts would be that any decline in moth numbers would be caused by decline in habitats quality or extent and you'd be far better off trying to improve habitats than by releasing adults that are likely to run into whatever problem is causing the decline rather than improving the population.
The other thing to consider is where are the eggs and or larvae coming from? If you're rearing eggs found locally its probably less of an issue but European sub-species may be quite different and may operate on a slighting different biological cycle attuned to plant availability in their home range rather than the cycles that exist here - you may then be introducing genes into a British population that may make it less suited to life here potentially making its situation overall situation worse.
My thoughts would be contact your local wildlife trust or even buglife for advice on how you can help or if captive breeding is helpful, hunt out good reserves for moths and enjoy them where they already are and if you want to breed moths in captivity - keep them in captivity.