introduction This website is all about the moths that have been recorded in County Donegal. species All macro moth species recorded in Donegal are listed alphabetically, and each one has a map. Most also have one or more photos, all of which have been taken in Donegal. This may be of interest, particularly for those species which show geographical variation. While some of the photos and specimens are rather poor, they are included for the record. A few lines of text are given for each species, but we have not attempted in these to provide accounts of either the identification or the ecology of moths - that is available elsewhere (see links). sites Here we have maps showing where moths have been found, and in what numbers. There are also descriptions of some of the more interesting moth locations, giving details of habitat and species present.   links The photos and maps on this website should be the first port of call for anyone finding moths in Donegal, or just interested in the status of moths in the county. But there is also a wide range of complementary websites from Britain and other parts of Ireland which can help to put the Donegal information into context. We provide links to the most useful of these. maps For more information on species maps click here. background Following a long history of rather patchy and uncoordinated recording of moths, the 1990s saw the start of an attempt to survey the whole county. This work is far from complete, but a picture is now emerging of the distribution of many species. This website shows maps of all species of which we have records at 2 km square detail. The post-1990 records we define as modern, and identify them on the maps with red dots. The historical records are divided into two periods, with orange dots identifying those between 1970 and 1989, and yellow dots for all older records. present situation (May 2007)   Since we launched the website in 2004, the overall picture has been slowly but steadily changing. It is now more apparent which species are widespread and which have more localised distributions within the county. For example, there are some species which we suspect are scarce or absent in the west, but generally widespread in the east - and vice-versa. More work needs to be done in the west to clarify this picture. The occurrence of many species are limited by availability of habitat or food species, while others, like the Barred Chestnut in the north-east, show a geographical bias. The maps also show that many species have a coastal distribution. Donegal is unusual in that as well as genuine coastal habitats, most of the calcareous grassland in the county is coastal and much of the calcicole flora is coastal too. This may point to priorities for conservation, as these coastal habitats are changing rapidly. An all-Ireland survey for Belted Beauty in 2006 revealed that its habitat (patches of Bird’s-foot Trefoil growing in association with areas of loose sand) is now almost totally absent from Donegal, and the Belted Beauty was not found here. Since 2004, the Inishowen peninsula in the north-east has two enthusiasts, George McDermott and Karl King, who have transformed the picture around Buncrana, and are now branching out to other sites in the peninsula. This has started to deliver records of migrants as well as scarce coastal species. Ethna Diver, John Cromie and Ralph Sheppard live in the lowlands of east Donegal, and regular trapping at their homes is still producing surprises – stray rarities, like Bordered Grey, which are unlikely to be resident anywhere near, and other new species, like some of the pugs, which are likely to have been overlooked. Between 1999 and 2002, Craig Ayres produced a large number of records from his home at Lettermore in G88. Coverage of the west continues to improve, with regular visitors Dave Allen, Ken Bond, Clive Mellon, and John O’Boyle supplementing the work of the resident team. The major gap is now the north-west. Most of the species maps still show large blank areas in the centre of the county, which is mainly due to lack of interesting and secure areas in which to trap. The habitat in this hilly and mountainous core is rather homogenous, with large areas of bog and heath, hill pasture and coniferous forestry, and very little woodland or mixed farmland. So even if we do manage better coverage, the blank areas will probably remain on many of the maps for some time yet. On the other hand, there is a significant minority of moth species which favour open habitats like bog. More effort both in the hilly interior and around the coast is needed for this under-recorded group of species. The main area of native woodland in Donegal, between the Glenveagh National Park and Lough Swilly, is well covered. Tory Island still stands out, thanks to the fine work down by lighthouse-keeper Danny O’Sullivan in the 1950s. He collected dead moths under the light each morning and posted them to the leading authority of the time, E.S.A. Baynes. The list includes a number of species still not re-discovered - some of them migrants, but others rare resident species. On the mainland too, many species have only been recorded once, or on a very few occasions. How this is to be interpreted is a matter of speculation, and several factors may be involved. We have given a brief comment for each species, but speculation still plays a bigger role than it should. Undoubtedly some of these species are as rare as they appear to be – but not all of them.