PUPILS at Buckland St Mary Primary School were all a flutter when they helped with a national moth survey.

Nigel Spring, from the Butterfly Conservation Trust, paid his third visit to the school on Monday last week to collect specimens from the grounds.

He shared his findings with the children the next day as each moth was studied and classified.

The results of the survey will be fed into the Butterfly Conservation Trust database to help provide a detailed picture of moth populations across the country.

A school spokesman said: “It is amazing to see all the different species of moth that can be found in our school grounds.

“The elephant hawk moth was our favourite because it was really big!”

Moth expert Nigel Spring is pictured with children from Buckland St Mary Primary School.