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

Friday, 29 May 2015

Adela (Cauchas) fibulella - 13th County Record

At Hexton the other day I was very lucky to find quite a scarce moth for Hertfordshire.
Adela (Cauchas) fibulella is a moth of the Adelidae family and is pretty minute to say the least. It is probably one of the least commonest from the family.
The moth feeds on Germander Speedwell which in itself is a common weed in most places. The first moth I observed was flying gently above its food plant settling intermittently during warm sunny spells.
I didn't just find one, once you got your eye in there were quite a few around the bottom end of the reserve but upon walking into the adjacent set-aside field I found even more Germander Speedwell and it was more common here with a count of 25 in total, a fantastic result!

 Other moths of note included a few more Small Purple-barred (an even scarcer moth),15+ Glyphipterix simpliciella's, 5 Pyrausta nigrata, 8 Burnet Companions, 2 Mother Shiptons, 1 Grapholita compositella, 1 Grass Rivulet. 
Other expected moths that I disturbed during the day are below

 1x Silver-ground Carpet
10+ Celypha lacunana
5x Anthophila fabriciana
1x Silver-Y
1x Marbled White Spot
1x Green Carpet
1x Grey Pug
1x Epiblema sp
1x Psyche casta

Needless to say after finding the moth in profusion at Hexton, I will be searching elsewhere for other large patches of the foodplant.

Adela (Cauchas) fibulella













Germander Speedwell









Burnet Companion












Small Purple-barred












Pyrausta nigrata













Grapholita compositella




Posted by Bennyboymothman at 09:13

2 comments:

  1. Lucy @ A Natural Interlude29 May 2015 at 17:47

    Great spotting, Ben :o). I will have to keep my eyes peeled at the Brickworks as there's plenty of Germander Speedwell there...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman30 May 2015 at 08:05

    Yes please! A nice sunny day like today would be perfect (well its sunny here at he moment!) Thanks was really lucky...again!

    ReplyDelete

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