All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.
Moths
After birds, moths are perhaps the best recorded group, mainly due to the success of light traps providing a relatively easy way to discover the several hundred species that visit most gardens. There are excellent books now available to help with identification - see below.
Leicestershire and Rutland resources
See the Leicestershire Moth Recorders page
Facebook Group: Butterflies and Moths of Leicestershire & Rutland - this is a lively and active group and a great place for sharing news and getting help with identifying photos. This is the quickest and easiest way to get answers or suggestions – often in a matter of minutes.
LESOPS 2 - The Hawkmoths of Hinckley District - Ray Morris
LESOPS 4 - The Macro-Lepidoptera of Burbage Wood - Ray Morris
LESOPS 16 - Lepidopteran Survey of Land at Stanton-Under-Bardon (1998) - Jane McPhail
LESOPS 19 - A Checklist of the Moths of Rutland Water - Ron Follows
Moth Survey in and around the Vale of Belvoir 2022 - Pete Leonard's fascinating report on his moth survey of north-east Leicestershire.
Useful websites and publications
UK Moths - the best and most comprehensive photographic identification guide to all British moths. Has a useful search function with thumbnail views as an option.
British Lepidoptera - Excellent photographic ID site with family level guides.
Phyllonorycters - a useful guide to the many micro-moths in this genus.
https://lepiforum.org/ - whilst it is in German it has an excellent series of images of both adults and caterpillars so useful if you have a candidate species in mind.
Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland - fantastic book with brilliant life-like illustrations and showing the range of colours and patterns. Does not cover micro-moths.
The Concise Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland is a spiral-bound edition with the same illustrations as the above, but with reduced descriptive text. Useful to take into the field but get the full version if you only get one.
Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland (companion to the above). Excellent!
British Moths and Butterflies: A Photographic Guide - excellent photographs and also covers many micro-moths too.
If you know of other websites or books that you would recommend, do let us know: info@naturespot.org
