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, 19 September 2016

A rare import is new for Herts

On the Sunday morning of the 28th of August I was going through my trap and noting down the moths I found nestled within the egg trays when I noticed an unfamiliar looking moth at the bottom of the trap...I got very excited when I potted it up and could not even place the genus let alone the species!
A quick fumble through the guides revealed nothing...it wasn't in them. 
A quick post on social media revealed that it was a Thaumatotibia leucotreta or False Codling Moth an adventive species that feeds off of Citrus fruits. Obviously an import and I am 98% sure it has been brought in on something locally but with the constant migrants recorded lately I couldn't rule it out totally!
New to Herts and I think the 4th? record for the UK.
After that excitement it meant that year first species weren't as breathtaking but welcome all the same.

Species numbers are slowly dwindling and as usual the bulk of the catch is usually about 4 species this time of year.

The specimen resides in the collection of C.W.Plant and will be shown at the Herts Moth Group AGM in 2017.
 
Catch Report - 27/08/16 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap
 
Macro Moths

Coxcomb Prominent 1 [NFY]
Flounced Rustic 1 [NFY] 
Angle Shades 1
Brimstone Moth 6
Burnished Brass 1
Common Rustic 2
Dark Arches 1
Dun-bar 2
Dusky Thorn 3
Flame Shoulder 2
Garden Carpet 4
Green Carpet 1
Large Yellow Underwing 14
Lesser Yellow Underwing 4
Riband Wave 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 36
Straw Dot 1
Square-spot Rustic 10
Vine's Rustic 6

Micro Moths

Thaumatotibia leucotreta 1 [NEW!]
Nomophila noctuella 1 [NFY]
Acrobasis advenella 1 
Blastobasis adustella 3
Celypha lacunana 2 
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Epiphyas postvittana 5
Eudemis profundana 2
Pandemis corylana 2
Plutella xylostella 2
Udea ferrugalis 1

Thaumatotibia leucotreta











Flounced Rustic











Coxcomb Prominent











Nomophila noctuella

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:12

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