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

Wednesday, 6 May 2020

Daily dose of netting

Another walk today around my local area to see what I could find, I did a combination of sweeping and using a stick and tapping trees and bushes, sweeping wasn't very productive for moths, but it was nice to see some many bugs in the bottom of the net (I wish I had the time to go through all of these, but i'm a moth man and that is what I tend to concentrate on).

As well as the usual suspects, I added a further 5 yearlisters, very pleasing indeed in just an hour of surveying a local area whilst my son had his nap time!
Cinnabar was the first one, a fleeting glimpse as it got pushed by the wind in the opposite direction of my net, i'll get one another day...probably!

There were literally 10's of Phyllonorycter, I always pack my hand lens to try and differentiate as best as I can out in the field, so i'm not taking countless specimens back home.

Two white Phyllo's looked different so they were taken away for further inspection, and indeed they are two seperate species.
I also netted a pair in copulation from Hazel, I think i've narrowed them down to Phyllonorycter nicellii, flight time and foodplant fits, but these are tricky and need gen-detting.

 I'll save the best until last, I specifically targetted a stand of mature Field Maple inbetween two arable fields and on my second tap I dislodged a Tortrix that settled on the underside of a leaf (A very characteristic trait of Tortrix moths I must add).. and then I couldn't believe my eyes, it was one! A lovely Pammene trauniana and the 4th County record for Herts.
I took the first in my garden in 2017, so I know they are around here... this confirms that they must be breeding locally and with a further 2 county records in just over a week, maybe it is having a good year or is it more frequent than we originally thought? 

 I hope to get some better photos over the next few days, the light has been tricky and pot shots had to do for some of the Phyllo's

Daytime Wander - 06/05/20 - Great Ashby field margins - Stevenage - North Herts

Adela reamurella 25+
Cinnabar 1
Glyphipterix simpliciella 4
Pammene trauniana 1
Parornix sp 2
Phyllonorycter harrisella 3
Phyllonorycter nicellii 2 (pair in cop)
Phyllonorycter tenerella 1
 
Pammene trauniana

Phyllonorycter nicellii - Female

Phyllonorycter nicellii - Male

Phyllonorycter harrisella and Phyllonorycter tenerella

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:45

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