SIGHTINGS of insects, including bees, moths and butterflies, are being sought to help the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust find out more about how many there are in the county.
The charity also wants people to submit photographs of one of the six species they are tracking.
The trust’s Nick Packham said 41 per cent of insect species were facing extinction so the charity needed to know where, if anywhere, they were flourishing.
“By sending in a photo and letting us know where six of our easily recognised species are, we can start to build a picture of how insects are faring in our county,” he said.
People don’t have to be experts to contribute and only need to fill out a quick and easy form online to take part.
“Helping us to record wildlife is an easy way to get involved in wildlife conservation – it helps us to understand why wildlife is found where it is and in what numbers.
“This helps us to identify any areas that are particularly important or that lack these species.”
More than 140 sightings have already been submitted since May which the trust said was a great start and September and October are peak times for seeing the creatures in question.
Among them are the hummingbird hawk-moth, the common carder bee, the small tortoiseshell butterfly, seven spot ladybirds, large red damselfly and the marmalade hoverfly.
So far Malvern has had the most sightings with 40, next are Evesham, Pershore and Worcester all with 24, followed by Bromsgrove with 17, 13 in Redditch and 11 in Droitwich.
The trust said insects faced two main problems – loss of habitats and overuse of pesticides – and were dying out eight times faster than larger animals.
Visit http://worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/wildlife-sightingsto take part.
