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

Monday, 20 May 2013

Twin 40w Actinic tubes at the ready

Trying my twin 40w Actinic tubes tonight in place of my 125w MV bulb.
As can be seen from the first picture, they both fit onto a cross-member on top of the suitcase heath trap kindly lent to me from the Boxmoor trust.
The light output is fantastic, and the first night I used it in woodland it outperformed the MV 3-1 moth ratio.
Tonight they are both laying across the funnel of my Robinson collar, in  a vain hope of attracting something different and probably diptera related knowing my luck!
An hour to go until full dark, fingers crossed and pots at the ready in the morning.



Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:19

2 comments:

  1. Steve Gale20 May 2013 at 20:25

    Hi Benny, do you rate this actinic set-up? I used to run a single bulb actinic a few years ago but it always a poor performer compared to the MV. However, if the 125W MV bulbs become extinct, would this be a credible alternative?

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  2. Bennyboymothman20 May 2013 at 20:37

    Hi Steve, I have run numerous Actinic setups since I started mothing in 2006 and I rate this setup the best so far. Of course because of its high wattage it would not be ideal running it from a battery (which most Actinics are designed to do), but it did out-perform an MV in the field and it gives another lught source for moths to be attracted to. In fact my third trap is a blended 160w Robinson style trap, that again attracts different moths at times.
    I very much doubt MV's will become obsolete, but will only get more expensive as the need decreases for them commercially.
    Give Paul Batty an email, search paul batty mv, he sells lots of different setups.
    All the best.
    Ben

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