Red List of the Moths of Luxembourg

Section: Conservation Biology

Responsible staff: Axel Hochkirch

Research strategy: Understanding and Preserving Nature, Society and Natural History

Moths constitute a species‑rich but little‑studied group of insects that play an important role in ecosystems as nocturnal pollinators.

Since 2023, a team working in collaboration with the MNHNL has been developing a new Red List for this group of insects.

To this end, moths are surveyed using light traps installed in suitable locations across Luxembourg. Surveys are repeated at sites that have already been studied intensively in order to better understand changes in the moth fauna. In addition, particular attention is given to poorly studied areas in order to fill gaps in the inventories.

Targeted searches are also carried out to rediscover species considered lost, meaning those that have not been observed in Luxembourg since 2000. During the first years of the project, some of these lost species have already been rediscovered, while others are probably extinct.

External collaborators :  Marcel Hellers, Raoul Gerend, Claude Kolwelter, Francis Birlenbach, Annika Adam, Yannick van der Veen, Hannes Heister