New Carpets for the Garden

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) and Common Marbled Carpet (Dysstroma truncata) are both very variable in colour, and have been present in decent numbers while I’ve been trapping this spring (they are present right through to the Autumn as well). Among these I also caught some new species from the large family of colourful carpet moths: Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria), Cypress Carpet (Thera cupressata), the rather striking Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) and Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata). Cypress Carpet is a newly arrived species in UK, first found in 1984 but now spread to Leylandii hedges all over the South of Britain. None of the species mentioned cause damage to carpets, by the way.