Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

LAST week I described how bats caught insects - especially moths - by using a system rather like radar but actually much more sophisticated.

In wartime, a method of jamming radar was invented but once again nature was there first.

Most moths have huge feather-like antennae and these are able to detect the sounds produced by hunting bats.

The moths then react by producing sounds which interfere with the signals produced by the bats.

Over this last week there have been lots of films on television to mark the 60th anniversary of the Second World War.

Some have shown aerial dogfights.

The next time you see bats hunting, just imagine nature's own aerial battles taking place in the skies of East Lancashire on the warm autumn evenings. Moths are much more common than butterflies and there are hundreds of species, compared with only around 50 species of butterfly.

One species of moth which is well worth looking out for is the Emperor.

This has caterpillars which feed on the shoots of heather.

The caterpillars are green and yellow in colour, which provides good camouflage.

This is another lesson which fighting men have copied from nature.

Good camouflage is the key to survival.

The heather moors are at their best just now and if September continues to be warm, a walk over the hill country of East Lancashire will be very rewarding.

Not only is the scenery spectacular at this time but the natural history is also at its best.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.