A rainy night of garden mothing

Last night the temperature fell to no lower than 12 degrees, and it drizzled for the first couple of hours, so I was hopeful of a substantial catch.

I was therefore slightly underwhelmed by a count of 14 moths of 10 species. None was new for the garden (perhaps I have been spoilt over the last two years), but there were some nice ones.

Two Pale Tussocks caught in the act

Codling Moth - the first of many no doubt

Seraphim

Buff-tip

Vine's Rustic

Brown House Moth

The Pale Tussocks are resting in an embrace following a night of passion (I like to think). This is the second time I have found this species in such a situation, so I am guessing this is not unusual.

Technically the Brown House Moth was not attracted to the trap as it fluttered from the front door when I was putting the bins out. I had also seen one a few days ago when one flew to the trap in the middle of the afternoon when it was obviously not switched on. Somewhat ironic.

I was slightly surprised to discover that I hadn't caught a Buff-tip last year, so this was the first since 2018. Meanwhile the Seraphim was only the second I have trapped, but the first was in 2019.

The full list was:

Brown House Moth 1
Ruddy Streak 1
Codling Moth 1 (nfy)
Common Marbled Carpet 2
Seraphim 1 (nfy)
Pale Tussock 2
Buff-tip 1 (nfy)
Flame Shoulder 1
Vine's Rustic 2 (nfy)
Shuttle-shaped Dart 2

Maybe the rain was too persistent, but its not a bad haul.

A couple of caddis-flies were resting in the trap. I photographed one to see if it can be identified.

Athripsodes aterrimus

If I find out what it is I'll add a caption. There you go. I'm fairly confident it's right. I also caught a Glyphotaelius pellucidus caddis-fly (same species as seen at Morton Bagot on Sunday).