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

Saturday, 22 June 2024

Much warmer!

A better catch last night, after not running my trap the past few nights due to the low temperatures of around 7 degrees.
Last night however it remained above 14 degrees, and in fact when I came down for breakfast at 8.30 it was already 20 degrees outside!
I got home from a field trip at 3am and decided to pack my trap up rather than leaving it another hour.
 
The catch was still fairly small given that we are right in peak moth season, but it made up with loads of new species for the year.
I think the wind was the issue, it was fairly blowy all night.
 
Best moth of the night was a Blotched Emerald, a new species for the garden. Shame it was so ratty.
 
Pick of the rest of the catch were Coleophora deauratella, Ghost Moth, L-album Wainscot & Zeiraphera isertana, all uncommon here.

During the daytime the VES lure attracted 2 Orange-tailed Clearwings.

A stripy Coleophora has been retained for dissection.

Every night now for at least a week is looking very favourable for more mothy action.
 
Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 336 species
 
21/06/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Blotched Emerald 1 [NFG]
Ghost Moth 1 [NFY]
L-album Wainscot 1 [NFY]
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1 [NFY]
Orange-tailed Clearwing 2 [NFY] (To VES)
Scarce Footman 1 [NFY]
Scorched Wing 1 [NFY]
Smoky Wainscot 1 [NFY]
Beautiful Hook-tip 1
Buff-tip 1
Common Footman 1
Dark Arches 1
Double-striped Pug 1
Garden Carpet 1
Green Pug 2
Grey Pug 1
Heart & Club 2
Heart & Dart 4
Large Yellow Underwing 3
Leopard Moth 1
Miller 1
Privet Hawk-moth 1
Riband Wave 2
Red-tipped Clearwing 1 (To HYL)
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Shears 1
Spectacle 1
Small Dusty Wave 1

Micro Moths 

Anania coronata 1 [NFY]
Coleophora deauratella 1 [NFY]
Crambus perlella 1 [NFY]
Dichrorampha vancouverana 1 [NFY]
Epermenia chaerophyllella 1 [NFY]
Notocelia uddmanniana 1 [NFY]
Scoparia basistrigalis 1 [NFY]
Sitochroa verticalis 1 [NFY]
Zeiraphera isertana 1 [NFY]
Ancylis achatana 1
Aphomia sociella 3
Blastodacna hellerella 1
Bryotropha basaltinella 2
Celypha lacunana 1
Celypha striana 1
Coleophora sp 1
Emmelina monodactyla 1
Eudonia lacustrata 3
Grapholita funebrana 1 (To MOL)
Homoeosoma sinuella 1
Tortrix viridana 1

Anania coronata

Blotched Emerald

Coleophora deauratella

Coleophora sp

Crambus perlella

Ghost Moth

L-album Wainscot

Lesser Yellow Underwing

Notocelia uddmanniana

Orange-tailed Clearwing

Scarce Footman

Scorched Wing

Smoky Wainscot

Zeiraphera isertana


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