A MOTH enthusiast from Stroud has helped solve an international mystery, contributing to the discovery of a new species.

Graeme Davis, who has led numerous moth and butterfly-related events for Stroud Valleys Project, noticed a post of an unusual moth specimen on Instagram.

The post by ecologist Daisy Cadet described what she thought was her first encounter with a Six-belted Clearwing, which she spotted on a window ledge next to a similar dead moth.

However, Graeme immediately knew it wasn’t a Six-belted – in fact, it wasn’t any kind of moth that he recognised at all.

Graeme shared the image with a contact at Butterfly Conservation, Les Evans-Hill, who also didn’t recognise the moth. He in turn sent the picture to the team at the Natural History Museum, who were equally baffled by the picture. They suggested Daisy search her houseplants for evidence, then invited her to the Museum with the moths (by now both dead) to do some tests.

DNA sampling revealed that the moth was a completely unknown species of Carmenta, a genus native to the Americas… begging the question: what were two moths from tropical South America doing in rather chillier South Wales?

As it turned out, Daisy’s mother Ashleigh had returned from a trip to Guyana three months before Daisy spotted the moths.

When Daisy checked one of the bags Ashleigh had taken with her, she discovered the remains of two cocoons; it seemed that Ashleigh had carried two pupal moths with her from Guyana all the way back to Port Talbot, and they’d managed to survive in the warm, dark confines of her bootbag.

Daisy and Ashleigh, together with the National History Museum experts, Graeme and Les, had been instrumental in bringing to light a completely new species, which has been named Carmenta brachyclados.

Graeme, a keen amateur lepidopterist who lives in Cashes Green, has been interviewed by national media sources about his part in the discovery.

He said: “I'm proud that my online research led to an investigation that has revealed a new species to science!”