 | | | “Stinging nettles give us an insight into both the capacity for nature to flourish even in some of the hardest urban conditions, and how plants are essential in providing us with some of the neccessities of life.
Not only do they provide excellent food for some butterflies and moths, but we can make tea from their leaves, use them as dyes, and once stung we will never forget their power to protect - as good a piece of environmental education as any.”Mathew Frith
Urban Advisor, English Nature |
| | Moths of the nettle patchAlthough sometimes not as showy as their cousins, the butterflies, moths are often just as beautiful and often more fascinating. In general moths are more cosmopolitan in their choice of larval foodplant, the caterpillars of some moth species will eat a wide range of foodplants and are said to be omniphagous. Let's take a look at those moths you may come across in your local nettle patch  | Burnished Brass - Diachrysia chrysitis
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Distinctive metallic patches are a key identification feature of this moth. |  | The Spectacle - Abrostola triplasia
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Is it a moth or a broken twig? |  | Beautiful Golden Y - Autographa pulchrina
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Found throughout the British Isles in June and July. |
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| | | | Did you know? | | Cloth made from nettle fibres was used as a substitute for cotton to produce German Army uniforms during the First World War. |
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