Shady spot

I tried a new and previously over-looked spot for the trap last night. It had the advantage of plentiful tree-shelter on an evening which started off quite rainy but grew dryer as the night set in. 

The first visitor I spotted was the Black Arches, above, resting quietly on our front gate. Inside the trap there was a another treat, albeit a tiny one, in the form of this Beautiful Plume micro Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (Linnaean names are like the Sri Lanakan ones on University Challenge which often need an extra-long nameboard).

Alongside it in the eggboxes was its plainer relative the Common Plume, below, and an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny micro of the sort with which I seldom bother. I had a go at photographing it this time and I think that it is a mini-mini-chap or chapess called Phalonidia manniana.  But I definitely need to check that with Upper Thames Moths.

Finally, another challenge to my ID skills came in the form of this Carpety character below. A Red Carpet, I think, but another check is in order.