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

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

A quiet night, but with oddities & rarities

A bit weird last night.
A significant drop in numbers of moths to the home trap, down at 27 species, less than half from a few nights ago.
The reason? A big bright full moon that appeared practically just as the sun went down, clear skies until well past midnight, and temperatures a little low at 8 degrees.
But, fret not.. there was some quality moths to observe and photograph.

First up, the rarities

The star of the night was a new moth for me, the V-moth. Aptly named sporting a V on the forewing (Although not that apparent on my specimen), a fairly frequent moth in this area with around 30 records, still a great looking moth and also fresh.

The 2nd (possibly) rare moth, is a tentative Coleophora vestianella, which i've keyed out on markings, antennae, size and general jizz. A Coleophora of the nearby Brecks, and with just 3 previous Cambs record, and last seen at Wicken Fen in 1905! It will be amazing if my suspicions are correct. 
Again, nicely marked and fresh.

Then we get to the oddities.

First off was a cracking form of Buff Ermine with some really dark lines across it's creamy wings. The other moth was an a-typical Double-striped Pug, with a large central outlined band and extremely suffused outer areas.

Other notables were garden firsts of Aethes beatricella & Elachista freyerella.


Moth garden list for 2022 stands at 339 species

13/06/22 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

V-moth 1 NFG
Beautiful Hook-tip 1
Buff-tip 1
Buff Ermine 3
Common Wainscot 2
Double-striped Pug 1
Garden Carpet 1
Heart & Dart 2
Large Nutmeg 2
Marbled Minor sp 2
Mottled Pug 1
Small Dusty Wave 3
Uncertain 1
Willow Beauty 10
 
Micro Moths
 
Aethes beatricella 2 [NFG] 
Coleophora vestianella pos 1 [NFG]
Elachista freyerella 1 [NFG]
Bryotropha affinis 1
Clepsis consimiliana 1
Cnephasia sp 2
Ephestia sp 2
Epiphyas postvittana 2
Grapholita lobarzewskii 1
Grapholita tenebrosana 2
Hedya nubiferana 1
Mompha subbistrigella 1
Phyllonorycter sp to check 1
 
Aethes beatricella

Buff Ermine

Clepsis consimiliana

Coleophora vestianella pos

Double-striped Pug

Elachista freyerella

V-Moth

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:25

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