(extracted from the NMN website)

National Moth Night (NMN) is Britain’s celebration of moths and moth recording. It was launched in 1999 and has taken place annually since then, the date varying each year in order to focus recording effort on different parts of the season.

NMN is open to anyone to take part in, both expert and beginner alike. On the designated date, participants throughout the British Isles are encouraged to see what moths they can find in their chosen location and the results are pooled into Britain’s largest survey of what species are on the wing. Much important information has been generated on National Moth Night, including new species for various counties, new sites for scarce species and records of rare immigrants; amazingly, in 2008 a population of the White Prominent (a species that had not been seen in the British Isles for 70 years) was discovered in Ireland.

For the first time ever National Moth Night will take place over two nights in 2009. This is because we are asking recorders and members of the public to look out for moths that will be colour-marked at various sites, in the hope that we might be able to learn something about moth migration. September is a particularly productive month for observing moth migration, when home-bred offspring of spring/summer immigrations mix with additional insects coming into the country. As with any migration event, however, weather is an important influence and we will be hoping for a warm night with southerly winds to bring insects northwards from warmer parts of Europe, or even from North Africa.

The last time NMN was held in September was the year 2006, when it was held on 23 September. In that year a total of 496 species were recorded from 728 sites across the British Isles

You can take part in national moth night in any way you choose. This might involve running a moth-trap in your garden, looking for moths at your kitchen window or at blossom, attending or organising a public event, or for the very dedicated moth recorder, travelling further afield with moth-traps and a portable generator to search for unusual species. Wherever you record moths please watch out for the colour marked moths, for which we are seeking reports. Should you be lucky enough to find a colour marked moth then please ensure that a good quality photograph is submitted so that we can verify the record and determine where the moth has come from.

Please ensure your data is submitted by 1 December 2009. The best way to submit data is via the data submission form that can be found on the ‘submit your results’ page: www.nationalmothnight.info/events/results.php.