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

Sunday, 14 April 2024

Chippenham Fen - Field Trip - 11/04/24

After a nice warm day it was time to dust the traps off and head back out into the field.
 
4 traps were loaded up, bearing different light sources on each of the traps, from 40w Actinic bulbs to the big 250w clear mercury vapor.
 
Whilst setting up at 7:30pm it was still very mild with just a hint of breeze coming from the west, all good I thought, and after lights on there was activity around all of the traps almost straight away.
 
I also netted a few walking between the traps, which is always a handy tip to help increase the list a bit.
 
But, about 2hrs in the wind picked up, not just a bit but rather dramatically, swinging from the west to due south and howling up the exposed track, 2 traps were right in the firing line.
The big MV was the worst off, with external egg trays cart-wheeling all over the place and the flat ground sheet licking up at the sides.
I ended up moving my car next to it, to shield the worst of the buffeting breeze.

Nevertheless it was a very successful early season session with 48 species recorded over 3 hours before conditions got ridiculous.

Best moths of the night went to a new micro moth for my records, the tiny Phyllonorycter viminiella, a Willow feeder and probably easier to find in mine form.
A Pug moth may also be new for me, a melanic version which is proving tricky. Generally melanic pugs are a no-go for identifying by photos alone. We think the Pug is Golden-rod but dissection will tell.

The early records continued with Green Pug and Coronet, the latter about 3 weeks early.

2 examples of Acleris hastiana were good to see, though a little ragged around the edges.

Grey Birch put in an appearance one more, a really local moth nationally.

3 huge female Emperors came to the one trap, the most i've seen at once and we also recorded an incredibly large, female Powdered Quaker, a great looking specimen.

The first of the Elachistas were on the wing with 3 Elachista canapennella, 2 were a bit worn but the third was mint, and talking about mint, check out the incredibly coloured Epinotia immundana, garnished in orange, one of 15 recorded over the 4 traps.

A great session indeed.

11/04/24 - Chippenham Fen - East Cambridgeshire - 1x 125w Trap, 1x 160w MBT Trap, 1x 250w Robinson Trap & 1x Actinic Trap


Macro Moths

Brindled Pug 4
Chestnut 2
Chinese Character 2
Common Quaker 4
Coronet 1
Double-striped Pug 2
Early Tooth-striped 1
Emperor Moth 3
Engrailed 1
Frosted Green 1
Green Carpet 2
Grey Birch 1
Hebrew Character 5
Iron Prominent 3
Least Black Arches 10
Lunar Marbled Brown 6
March Moth 2
Nut-tree Tussock 8
Oak-tree Pug 12
Pale Prominent 1
Pebble Prominent 5
Powdered Quaker 1
Pretty Chalk Carpet 2
Pug sp pos Golden-rod TBC 1
Purple Thorn 1
Red Chestnut 1
Red Twin-spot Carpet 2
Ruby Tiger 8
Scorched Carpet 1
Seraphim 1
Shoulder-stripe 1
Streamer 4
Tawny-barred Angle 2
Twin-spotted Quaker 1
V-pug 5
Waved Umber 6
Yellow-barred Brindle 3

 
Micro Moths

Acleris hastiana 2
Agonopterix arenella 1
Agonopterix alstromeriana 1
Caloptilia semifascia 2
Elachista canapennella 3
Endrosis sarcitrella 1
Epinotia immundana 15
Mompha epilobiella 1
Phyllonorycter viminiella 1
Tinea trinotella 1
Zellaria hepariella 1

125w MV Robinson Trap

Acleris hastiana

Coronet

Elachista canapennella

Emperor Moths

Epinotia immundana

Grey Birch

Phyllonorycter viminiella

Powdered Quaker

Pretty Chalk Carpet

Pug sp

Tawny-barred Angle

 

 

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