Moths can be found in any month of the year. The graph of the number of species per month in Staffordshire shows that the peak is from June to August. For someone taking an interest for the first time, the sight of a trap full of moths in, say, July can be quite daunting. It is better to start off in the spring or late autumn when numbers are more manageable.
Not all nights are equally good for moths. For example, a warm sunny day with a cloudless sky might be good for butterflies and day-flying moths but it is generally followed by a cold evening when few moths will fly.
The best nights tend to be cloudy, mild, and preferably muggy. Unfortunately we tend to get too few of these!
Moths do not fly throughout the night but have definite periods and peaks of activity. Some species fly only at dusk for instance, when there is usually quite a lot of activity. Peak numbers probably occur shortly after dusk and then tail off until renewed activity starts at dawn.
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