Active monitoring and recording of the area using has added greatly to our knowledge of local moths. A few species may have always been here in undetected, in isolated pockets, others have moved here naturally in recent years, and some have been assisted in their arrival by humans activity.

Changing habitats and a warming climate have resulted in moths spreading north, and not just in North Antrim. The aptly named Pine Beauty, a species first recorded in North Antrim a couple of years ago, is regarded as a pest species to the forest of Scandinavia. Scientists having been watching its move north from central Europe, but were surprised to have found it in Northern Finland 50 years sooner than predicted.



The introduction of exotic plants to our garden have brought further species, from all over the globe.

Below are few those species apparently new to region in recent years.

The diminutive moth was discovered at Murlough Bay in 2020 and every year since. Is it a new arrival or was it always there undetected?

July 2022 seen four individuals in my garden for the first time.

Up to November 2015 only 7 records of 9 individuals of this species had been seen in Ireland. One was found in Glenariffe and then in 2018 I found three in one night in a local woodland, and have now found it every year since. Another site in the Antrim Hills has subsequently been discovered.

2019 say the discovery of this species on Rathlin Island the first record for Ireland and still the only place it has been found.

The first record for the region was at Glenarm in 2022 and quickly followed up with another at Murlough Bay in 2023.

This species originates from the area surrounding the Mediterranean, but has been spreading north. It was first reported from the Isle of Wight 1951 and has been moving up through the British Isles. In 2019 it appeared in my garden and has done so every year since.
In recent years this species has become quite regular along the north coast, with records from gardens and also at Murlough Bay.

The first record for the region was in 2023 at Breen Wood. further monitoring will see if it has become established in the region.

It is not just the larger moths that are on the move. This species, originally from Australia was accidently brought into Cornwall in the 1930's. From there it has spread north and it is a species I have recorded in every month of year in my garden.

Another introduced species, this time from from Madera, which has spread north and is now regular in my garden and elsewhere in North Antrim.