File:(1860) Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata) (34967297395).jpg

A huge catch headed by a new for County!

Well I thought Tuesday night was good for moth numbers...the next night on Wednesday blew that one out of the water completely! With no less than 44 species recorded and 16 new for the year species and one new for me and the garden.

The weather was warm again and up to 26 degrees in the daytime and not dropping below 16 degrees here in North Herts despite another clear night.

Something special that caught my eye was sitting on the top egg tray underneath the collar of the trap. It was a Pammene and I instantly said to myself 'flipping ell that's trauniana' having recently seen someone else catch one on social media. The moth was whisked over to Graeme for a second opinion and dissection just to be sure, it is indeed Pammene trauniana and new to the County of Hertfordshire! Two rare Pammene's in just over a week (after last Tuesday's Pammene ignorata) is incredible and i'll be happy with this being my best moth of 2017 for the garden.

We do have a few small Field Maple trees about 400 metres from our house of which this moth feeds upon.

Other bits of interest were a great big fat female Pale Tussock, the first time i've recorded a female in my garden trap and uncommon species for my garden such as Scorched Wing and Teleiodes luculella.

Catch Report - 24/05/17 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Brown Rustic [NFY] 2x Common Wainscot [NFY] 1x Green Pug [NFY] 1x Ingrailed Clay [NFY] 1x Peppered Moth [NFY] 1x Willow Beauty [NFY] 1x Scorched Wing [NFY] 1x Snout [NFY] 1x Tawny Marbled Minor [NFY] 1x Bright-line Brown-eye 5x Common Marbled Carpet 3x Common Pug 1`x Common Swift 4x Flame Shoulder 1x Garden Carpet 1x Green Carpet 6x Heart & Dart 3x Large Nutmeg 1x Light Emerald 1x Maiden's Blush 3x Mottled Pug 2x Orange Footman 1x Pale Mottled Willow 2x Pale Tussock 5x Rustic Shoulder-knot 1x Setaceous Hebrew Character 6x Shuttle-shaped Dart 1x Vine's Rustic 1x Waved Umber

Micro Moths

1x Pammene trauniana [NEW!] 1x Cydia pomonella [NFY] 1x Eudonia pallida [NFY] 1x Evergestis forficalis [NFY] 1x Pyrausta aurata [NFY] 1x Scoparia ambigualis [NFY] 1x Stigmella sp (prob aurella) [NFY] 1x Teleiodes luculella [NFY] 3x Celypha lacunana 15x Epiphyas postvittana 2x Eulia ministrana 1x Nematopogon swammerdamella 1x Notocelia cynosbatella 1x Plutella xylostella