Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Probably the rarest Moth that I have caught in the garden moth trap to date. A Cloaked Carpet. Nationally Scarce, with a few local records in the New Forest, and near the border with Surrey. Also a single previous record from a few hundred yards from my house, suggesting this species is present in local woodland, but eluding detection.

Found a very distinctive Caterpillar yesterday.. From a Vapourer moth, which is equally distinctive, being an orange day-flying species.

The finished moth trap.. runs on 16x rechargeable AAs! Has 8 LEDs across the UV spectrum and beyond. The box is a cheap plastic storage box and an even cheaper lampshade for the funnel. The egg cartons inside the box help the moths rest overnight once caught. Next morning they are identified, any interesting ones are photo'd, and all are released into the garden. This isn't quite as good as my mains operated moth trap which uses a Mercury Vapour bulb, but has the advantage of being portable and not restricted to the garden.