Welcome

Hello and welcome to my moth Blog. I now reside in a small village in East Cambridgeshire called Fordham. My Blog's aim is to promote and encourage others to participate in the wonderful hobby that is Moth-trapping.
Moth records are vital for building a picture of our ecosystem around us, as they really are the bottom of the food chain. They are an excellent early indicator of how healthy a habitat is. I openly encourage people to share their findings via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
So why do we do it? well for some people it is to get an insight into the world of Moths, for others it is to build a list of species much like 'Twitching' in the Bird world. The reason I do it....you just never know what you might find when you open up that trap! I hope to show what different species inhabit Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties.
On this Blog you will find up-to-date records and pictures.
I run a trap regularly in my garden and also enjoy doing field trips to various localities over several different counties.
Please also check out the links in the sidebar to the right for other people's Blogs and informative Websites.
Thanks for looking and happy Mothing!

KEY

NFY = New Species For The Year
NFG = New Species For The Garden
NEW! = New Species For My Records

Any Species highlighted in RED signifies a totally new species for my records.

If you have any questions or enquiries then please feel free to email me
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Thursday, 25 April 2013

Hemel Hempstead Field Trip - 24/04/13

Last night Roger and I ran 2 traps ( 1x 125w MV Robinson and 80w Actinic Skinner trap) at Hay Wood in Hemel Hempstead. We also ran 3 traps at Gadesprings just down the road ( 1x 160w MBT Robinson, 1x 125w MV Robinson and a 22w Actinic)
We set up the Gadesprings traps first running off the external power supply and then drove to Hay Wood to setup the remaining 2 traps, as we were setting up the heavens opened and we had a downpour, the rain stopped but then continued through the night getting heavier as we left at around 11pm although it was still a surprising 13 degrees even at midnight.

The moths were initially flooding in, but the initial flurry soon stopped by about 10pm.
The best moth without a doubt was a single Semioscopsis steinkelleriana, which was a new moth for both of us.

Also it was nice to see Water Carpet doing so well.

In total at Hay wood we managed 55 moths of 16 species.

At Gadesprings we managed 23 moths of 10 species.

3 species that we did not get at the wood but were at Gadesprings were Clouded Drab, Brindled Pug and Powdered Quaker.

Full list below

Hay wood - Hemel Hempstead - 8.30pm til 11pm

Macro moths

1x Twin-spotted Quaker
2x Small Quaker
2x March Moth
10x Engrailed
3x Common Quaker
10x Water Carpet
1x Chestnut
3x Hebrew Character
1x Early Thorn (huge female)
2x Purple Thorn
1x Double-striped Pug
1x Early Grey

Micro moths

1x Semioscopsis steinkelleriana [NEW!]
2x Agonopterix heracliana
12x Diurnea fagella
3x Agonopterix arenella

Gadesprings - Hemel Hempstead - 8pm til 11.30pm

Macro Moths

4x Hebrew Character
1x Brindled Pug
3x Early Grey
7x Common Quaker
1x Small Quaker
3x Double-striped Pug
1x Powdered Quaker
1x Clouded Drab
1x Early Thorn

Micro moths

1x Agonopterix arenella


 Carabus nemoralis was a new Beetle for me.


Thanks to David for allowing us to trap on the Boxmoor's Trusts land.

Entrance to Hay Wood









Water Carpet










Semioscopsis steinkelleriana











Agonopterix arenella










Early Thorn (Female)












Carabus nemoralis



Posted by Bennyboymothman at 18:11

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