Carpet World

The trap has seen dozens, maybe scores of delicate little Green Carpets since the moths began arriving in ernest at the start of May. Now they are being joined by a wider range of their family, named by England's 18th century entomologists after the intricately-patterned carpets then arriving in bulk from the East.

The Sandy Carpet, first picture above, is perhaps my favourite because of its distinctively simple colourway, no black or dark brown even in the outline of the patterns. The Silver Ground Carpet, second pic, follows it closely and certainly wins in the Best Name category. 

Then we have the Common Marbled Carpet - three pics above - which is indeed common here at the moment, half-a-dozen in the eggboxes every morning at the moment, many of them resting in 'butterfly fashion' with wings folded vertically rather than flat across the back or simply laid out horizontally like the Sandy and Silver Ground in my photos.

Moths of all sorts are coming in very good numbers and variety now, as the sunny spell continues and the nights grow warmer. I'm also being much better at sending the daily newcomers to iRecord, helped by the generally trustworthy ID powers of my iPhone - the biggest improvement to my somewhat raggedy processes since I first started trapping and keeping records. Gone, by and large, are those days of puzzling over almost identical photos of different species. Thank you, AI!

Above is a Vine's Rustic, a classic befuddler in the bad old days, and below a Scorched Wing, one of my all-time favourite species. The dazzle effect of the patterns on its wings is textbook.

Next comes an unusually dark and very clear-marked Silver Y, a freshly-emerged Common Carpet, a delicately beautiful Clouded Silver and the year's first Light Emerald.

And finally, a new butterfly species for the year, the good old Red Admiral.  By the state of it, this one is an over-winter hibernator lured out of its long sleep by the May sun.