File:(1727) Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) (14013856779).jpg

Traps on people, it's hotting up out there! To start off with I had some incredible luck chasing a Micro moth around the garden with a pot (god knows what the neighbour's think!) I managed to scoop it mid-flight into my pot and get the lid on in a split-second. The moth in question was a small metallic Adelidae of somekind, half the size of reamurella and I suspected rufimitrella. A few macro shots were taken and it indeed turned out to be a garden first Adela rufimitrella, in fact my first for Hertfordshire and only my second ever in 8 years (previous record from Essex)

To the evening....

I ran the garden trap last night as it had been a lovely warm day with a high of 21 degrees, and although it cleared at dusk it stayed relatively mild with little or no wind. This morning it was still registering 11 degrees and so my expectations were quite high, and I was pleasantly rewarded with some nice species and 5 new species for the year.

Both the Carpets refused to lay flat like a carpet and so it's underwing shots all the way here... hoping it will help anyone identifying them this way.

Trapping again tonight hopefully.

Catch Report - 15/05/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Maiden's Blush [NFY] 1x Clouded Border [NFY] 2x Common Marbled Carpet [NFY] 1x Silver-ground Carpet [NFY] 1x Bright-line Brown-eye [NFY] 2x Spectacle 2x Rustic Shoulder-knot 2x Pale Mottled Willow 1x Waved Umber 4x Muslin Moth 5x Shuttle-shaped Dart 2x Common Pug 1x Brimstone Moth

Micro Moths

1x Evergestis forficalis 1x Alucita hexadactyla 1x Syndemis musculana 1x Phyllonorycter harrisella