You won’t believe the animals that live in your garden. You may well have frogs, toads, hedgehogs, rabbits, moles, mice, rats, squirrels, deer (perhaps), a couple of dozen different specis of bird and myriad invertebrates.
It is this latter category that offer the greatest biological diversity and actually in my title I was really just referring to moths, the Lepidoptera (which includes the butterflies, they’re just a type of moth). Lepidoptera is my current natural science inclination at the moment having borrowed an actinic moth trap from my friend Rob (later bought it off him and have been using it ever since).
There are some 2600 species of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) in the British Isles. I’ve seen a very, very small selection of them after a couple of nights of moth-trapping in two gardens. The moths are always released unharmed first thing in the morning after observations and optional photocall, by the way. The current list is at the foot of this post, there have been at least the same number again in the trap unphotographed and unidentified, mainly small (micro) moths.
Blood vein (Timandra comae)
Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)
Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea)
Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)
Cinnabar (pre-trap)
Cloaked Minor (Mesoligia furuncula)
Common Rustic agg. (Mesapamea secalis)
Copper Underwing (Amphipyra pyramidea) (pre-trap)
Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha)
Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)
Dusky Sallow Eremobia ochroleuca
Grey/Dark Dagger (Acronicta psi/tridens)
Hummingbird Hawk Moth
Jersey Tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria)
Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)
Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua janthe)
Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)
Pale Tussock(pre-trap)
Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria)
Poplar Hawk Moth (Laothoe populi)
Privet Hawk Moth
Rose-flounced Tabby (Endotricha flammealis)
Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)
Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinguaria)
Small Purple & Gold (Pyrausta aurata)
The Dun-bar (Cosmia trapezina)
The Lychnis (Hadena bicruris)
The Rustic/The Uncertain (Hoplodrina blanda/octogenaria)
Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum)
Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)
UPDATE: As of 1st August 2019, I’d identified and photographed 283 moths. I have much better macro shots of all of the above too.