Two-thirds of common and widespread larger moths have declined over 40 years

Moths are vanishing from our skies at night, declining in southern Britain by 40% over 40 years, a major new report published on Friday reveals. Three species have become extinct this century already, following the permanent loss of 62 species in the twentieth century. The calamitous and largely hidden effect of human activities on these crucial insect populations has been exposed by light traps set in more than 525 sites across the country, which captured nine million moths between 1968 and 2007. Two-thirds of common and widespread larger moths have declined over this 40-year period, with the Orange Upperwing, Bordered Gothic and Brighton Wainscot all becoming extinct in the last 10 years. Moths are key indicator species for assessing the health of the environment. These findings point strongly to a wider insect biodiversity crisis and mirror declines of butterflies and bees and carabid beetles. The declines could have a knock-on effect for plant pollination and animals reliant on moths for food, such as garden and woodland birds, bats and small mammals. Butterfly Conservation Surveys Manager and lead author of the new report, Richard Fox said: "This report paints a bleak picture about Britain's biodiversity. Much has been made of the decline of butterflies and honeybees but moths represent the massive, but largely un-noticed diversity of insects that form the vast majority of animal life in Britain.

Once-common species such as the V moth are now in danger of extinction after suffering a 99% decline, according to The State of Britain's Larger Moths 2013, a new report by Butterfly Conservation and Rothamsted Research, an independent research organisation.
The declines recorded across such a large number of species – there are 900 larger moth species in Britain – confirm scientists' suspicions that human activity is wiping out vast insect populations, including flies, beetles and bees, all of which perform crucial, unheralded tasks in our ecosystems and food webs. "If this is happening to this enormous group of moths, there's no reason to think it's not happening in all those other insect groups," said Richard Fox of Butterfly Conservation, the lead author of the study. "Without insects we are in big trouble because a lot of the ecosystem services that humankind relies on, such as pollination, are going to start falling apart."
Sources:
The Guardian & BBSRC, 1 February 2013
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/01/british-moths-calamit…
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/fundamental-bioscience/2013/130201-pr-decli…