The moths are arriving at a very civilised rate in this lovely spell of very warm weather (though the nights are still pretty chilly because of clear skies). They are being considerate in other ways too; the first Green Carpet of the year posed helpfully on the trap's transparent cowl where I could conveniently photograph its underside. This is especially good at the moment as the cowl was Penny's Christmas present too me, a lovely unblemished replacement for its battered predecessor which lasted for years and was held together, just, by Sellotape.
It was very nice to find a pair of Waved Umbers on the guest list too, plus the Treble Lines on my pyjamas below and of course the brightly colour-splashed Cinnabar, which is always a very welcome sight.
I can tell you that the micro below is Ptheochroa rugosana (try saying it out loud), thanks to my iPhone's bug-ID which I find very good although I use it with the caution recommended by all moth experts. In this case, for instance, it suggested imaginatively -piclet left - that if the moth wasn't rugosana, it might be a Red Admiral butterfly. I admit finding such eccentricities endearing, and perhaps reassuring in the context of doom-laden claims about the all-powerful nature of Artificial Intelligence.
Next an interruption to the newcomers in the form of a very smart Common Quaker, followed by another first for the year, the delicately-patterned Knot Grass. And finally my inevitable companion at the trap, a right poseur but much pleasanter in character than his bullying predecessor who irritated me for the last couple of years.
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