comparison of moth species / 3 almost identical, very nearby locations / moth light

This is a short study of the number of moth species (IDs on iNaturalist as of July 8, 2024) obtained by using LepiLED moth lights in 3 different places within the same ecological zone in Gadmental, BE, Switzerland, on July 5, 2024. The lights were placed in front of a wall or a rock, starting before dusk and visitied at around 3-4 a.m. to take pictures of all the moths. Lights could not be seen from each other and were placed on a stretch of 50-60m.

(1) "W" Tälli-Hütte, directly at W side of the house, South exposed, elevation 1700m
(2) "E" 20m East of Tälli-Hütte
(3) "EE" 50m East of Tälli-Hütte

The graph shows, that only 14 species were found in all three places! The species found in only one of the three places was reduced, compared to the investigation below. Conclusion: even if the light source, the weather and the ecozone seems identical, there is a significant difference between species caught. This is probably due to the statistics of "small numbers". If you'd observe over a long period of time, it would probably average out.

moths found in locations
(1) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=46.740356715176596&nelng=8.328253804102417&on=2024-07-04&place_id=any&swlat=46.74010489039776&swlng=8.327871589317795&taxon_id=47157&user_id=amzamz&verifiable=any
(2) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=46.74047435554613&nelng=8.3288090213685&on=2024-07-04&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=46.74022253131675&swlng=8.328426806583877&taxon_id=47157&user_id=amzamz&verifiable=any
(3) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=46.740685739940204&nelng=8.329125522032257&on=2024-07-04&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=46.74043391669812&swlng=8.328743307247635&taxon_id=47157&user_id=amzamz&verifiable=any

Posted on July 8, 2024 05:54 PM by amzamz