Shining a light on moths
Country Life UK|July 19, 2023
Often overshadowed by their more glamorous cousin, the butterfly, most moths might only be seen at night, but we should better appreciate their intricate markings, muted shades and pollinating prowess
John Lewis-Stempel
Shining a light on moths

‘Thus hath the candle singed the moth.  O these deliberate fools! When they do choose,  They have the wisdom by their wit to lose’  Portia, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare (Act II, Scene 9)

MOTHS. What are they but the poor cousins of butterflies? Although butterflies jig and jive in the brilliant sunshine, moths are condemned to the night, unseen. Unless, that is, they flutter, crazed, into a light bulb or candle flame, as if they themselves had a burning desire to leave their prison darkness and become butterflies. When moths do enter our time and place, the daylight world, they come as pests. Our clothes are moth-eaten.

Yet do not the moths have their mysteries and their beauties? For how else could they have such fabulous names? We could fill a book with the poetry of British moth nomenclature, beginning with bilberry tortrix, glaucous shears, coxcomb prominent, Hebrew character, least yellow underwing, peach blossom. Who would not wish to see a powdered quaker or a satyr pug? If Shakespeare understood the fatal attraction of moths to flame (they, in all probability, confuse the latter with the moon of navigation), he knew their magick, too, granting the name ‘moth’ to the tiniest of Titania’s fairy band.

When the midsummer day is done, moths whirl and whirl through the dusk, from sweet-scented flower to sweet-scented flower, emissaries from the court of the Faerie Queen. Or couriers of letters from secret lovers or representations of the soul. In eras more imaginative than ours, moths were all these things and more.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 19, 2023 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 19, 2023 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Tales as old as time
Country Life UK

Tales as old as time

By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth

time-read
2 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Do the active farmer test
Country Life UK

Do the active farmer test

Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Country Life UK

Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin

Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts

time-read
2 mins  |
November 13, 2024
SOS: save our wild salmon
Country Life UK

SOS: save our wild salmon

Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Into the deep
Country Life UK

Into the deep

Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
It's alive!
Country Life UK

It's alive!

Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
There's orange gold in them thar fields
Country Life UK

There's orange gold in them thar fields

A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
True blues
Country Life UK

True blues

I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Oh so hip
Country Life UK

Oh so hip

Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
A best kept secret
Country Life UK

A best kept secret

Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024