October sees dramatic changes in our Wild Spaces. In my own, many of the trees are already bare and their leaves now litter the lawn and flower beds. But to me they are not litter, or a nuisance that needs to be cleared away. Instead, I think of fallen leaves as forming a cosy blanket for caterpillars that helps them get through the winter.
I witnessed the importance of this myself a few years ago, when I watched the large elephant-trunk-like caterpillar of an Elephant Hawk-moth crawl into dry leaves. The caterpillar then spun fine strings of silk which it attached to the nearby leaves and then drew them over its body. Leaves were stuck to other leaves using the silk, almost like a patchwork quilt. Eventually the whole caterpillar was surrounded in a dense mass of leaves, and inside this shelter the caterpillar will have pupated – shed its soft skin and formed a cocoon. This is how the Elephant Hawk-moth and many other species spend the winter, wrapped safely inside leaves and other plant debris. Many other species will retreat underground to pupate, but leaves are still important for stopping the winter chill penetrating too deeply into the soil.
It’s disappointing to see people gathering leaves and burning them in piles in the garden. It seems such a waste of a resource, as invertebrates like worms can break the leaves down to form nutritious soil. In my Wild Space I only rake up the leaves that are on the lawn – these are unlikely to ever provide enough shelter for invertebrates as they are scattered quite thinly. I then put most of these into the flower beds among the plants, to act as weed control and provide a place for caterpillars to shelter. The rest I pile up under trees and in quiet corners of the garden. The whole thing takes me an hour at most, and I can rest assured knowing that I’ve done my bit to help butterflies and moths get through the winter.
At this time of year, sources of nectar are beginning to dwindle; however, many of the species that fly in the autumn can feed from fruit. Blackberries are a useful source of sugar for many moths now. When the berries are over-ripe, their skin can burst, releasing sugary juice that is very attractive to certain moths such as the Red-line Quaker and Black Rustic, both of which I find in my Wild Space. The Herald Moth takes it a step further, with a specially-adapted proboscis which can pierce the fruit to release the juices! This moth hibernates as an adult in dark, cold places such as caves and culverts. They can sometimes be found in large numbers, along with butterflies like Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock. So, if you have some blackberries, raspberries or other fruit like plums and apples, remember to leave some for the autumn-flying butterflies and moths.
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