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 17 May 2011

Field Trip - Parndon Wood - Monday night

Decided to trap all night last night with 3 traps, unfortunately the 160w MBT failed on me during the night so I only had the other two to concentrate on. Both traps did very well with the amount of new species for the site, but numbers were quite low which is to be expected as we still shift into early summer.

New for site species included for the Macro Moths, Puss Moth and Large Nutmeg, for the Micro Moths there were Triaxomera parasitella, Teleiodes luculella, Caloptilia alchimiella and the rare Nationally scarce species Elegia similella, which is a brilliant record for Essex!

Both Triaxomera parasitella and Elegia similella were totally new species for me.

Elegia similella was also netted whilst packing up so I could have easily missed it!

Tonight hopes to be even warmer so I will be returning for a few hours after dusk.


Larger 125w MV Robinson Trap (Amongst Bramble and low-growing plants)

Macro Moths

1x Puss Moth [NFS]
1x Large Nutmeg [NFS]
2x Heart & Dart
1x Pale Tussock
1x Ingrailed Clay
1x Treble Lines
15x Orange Footman
2x Green Silver-lines
1x Poplar Lutestring
1x Common Swift
1x Straw Dot
1x Flame Shoulder


Puss Moth








Ingrailed Clay











Micro Moths

2x Ptycholoma lecheana
1x Incurvaria oehlmanniella
1x Coleophora sp.
1x Syndemis musculana
1x Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana


125w MV Robinson Trap + 22w Hanging Actinic (Under Oak, Birch, Beech and Hornbeam canopy)

Macro Moths

1x Heart & Dart
1x Pale Tussock
2x Pale Oak Beauty
1x Ingrailed Clay
1x Light Emerald
1x Oak Hook-tip
1x Common Wave
1x Bird's Wing
1x Treble Lines
8x Orange Footman
1x Marbled Minor
5x Green Silver-lines
1x Poplar Lutestring
14x Common Swift
3x Brindled White-spot
2x Scorched Wing
1x Brimstone Moth
1x Common Carpet

Bird's Wing









Oak Hook-tip











Micro Moths

1x Elegia similella [NFS]
3x Triaxomera parasitella [NFS]
2x Teleiodes luculella [NFS]
1x Caloptilia alchimiella [NFS]
1x Crambus lathoniellus
1x Celypha lacunana
1x Cnephasia communana
1x Parornix sp.
1x Mompha sp.
1x Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella
1x Ptycholoma lecheana
1x Syndemis musculana
1x Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana
1x Epiblema cynosbatella
1x Nematopogon swammerdamella
1x Mompha subbistrigella

Elegia similella








Triaxomera parasitella








Cnephasia communana









Teleiodes luculella
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 18:01

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous17 May 2011 at 19:27

    Still a good catch though, Ben. Like you said, tonight could be better. I`m giving it a go with netting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman18 May 2011 at 20:47

    Thanks Dean, yes it did prove worth it after all! having a rest now for a bit I think.

    ReplyDelete

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