Marsh Carpet

It was one of those evenings you dream about, – finding a moth in the catch that is about as unlikely as finding a gold coin in a pocketful of change! But there it was, sitting on virtually the last egg tray in the last trap to be inspected, surrounded by V-moths and Spinach, (thankfully the trap didn’t contain any ‘blunderwings’). My hands were shaking so much as I tried to pot it that it’s a wonder I didn’t lose it.
The rest of the catch on the bank of the river Waveney last night was pretty good too. V-moth (37) – highest number I have ever recorded on the site, Spinach (22), Double Dart (15), Balsam Carpet – second generation (8), Shaded Fan-foot (2) and Brown Scallop were highlights of the macros. Eidophasia messingella, Anania verbascalis, Epinotia cruciana (8), were among the many micros.
Most of these species were expected, although not in these numbers. The Marsh Carpet was a remote possibility because of the presence of Thalictrum on the site, but completely unexpected.
Undoutedly moth of the year for me!

Brian

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2 Responses to Marsh Carpet

  1. paulb says:

    A great catch and just reward for all your efforts.

  2. Brian says:

    Thanks Paul. Just an additional observation on traps used.
    I purposely placed one MV 125 trap and one 40w actinic trap on the track in the area where the V-moth is most abundant. This to test out the theory that V-moth is more likely to come to actinic light. After checking the numbers of V-moth in the 2 traps, the count was about equal, in fact there were a few more in the MV than the actinic. So V-moth will come OK to a 125 MV. It was also the same 125 MV that the Marsh Carpet came to.

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