WELL, THEY'RE GETTING MORE SENSIBLE:

Britain's maligned moths suffer drastic decline (Terri Judd, 02 May 2007, Independent)

Sir David Attenborough is turning his attention to the humble - but increasingly endangered - moth.

The renowned conservationist will launch a campaign at London Zoo today, called Moths Count, to halt the drastic decline of the butterfly's less-loved cousin and improve its much-maligned image. Campaigners say the moth's reputation as an ugly, cloth-eating beast is unfair and undeserved. "We need people to love moths," said Richard Fox, of Moths Count.

A report, entitled The State of Britain's Larger Moths, revealed last year that in many urban and southern areas, the moth population has almost halved since 1968. Across the nation the long-term study of a third of the country's 900 larger moth species found their numbers had slumped by 32 per cent in four decades.

The last generation of biologists actually believed moths would instantly evolve to save themselves.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 1, 2007 8:55 PM