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 18 May 2011

Field Trip - Parndon Wood - Tuesday night

The second night at Parndon Wood gave me a chance to compare two nights
running, all in all it was just as successful as last night with plenty of new
and different species for the site.

The weather was pretty much similiar although slightly cooler and windier. On arrival this morning at 7am it felt slightly warmer and drizzle started to fall.

New species for the site included for the Macro Moth's a single Foxglove Pug, for the Micro Moth's however both Ancylis badiana and Morophaga choragella with an Argyresthia species still to be identified.

Most interesting of all was the amount of species that came to light tonight, that didn't make an appearance last night, 8 Macro Moth's in total including Green Carpet, Chocolate-tip, Poplar Hawk-moth, Foxglove Pug, Common Pug, Mottled Pug, Clouded Silver and Pale Mottled Willow.

Also the 160w bulb attracted all 3 examples of 3 different pug species, including both Carpet species as well.
Overall the 125w MV bulb coupled with the 22w Actinic did attract more, as was to be expected.


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

Macro Moths

7x Pale Tussock (inc 1 female)
3x Pale Oak Beauty (1 different pale specimen)
4x Light Emerald
1x Oak Hook-tip (different specimen, smaller)
1x Common Wave (possibly recapture)
1x Bird's Wing (possible recapture)
1x Treble Lines
8x Orange Footman
2x Marbled Minor (1 possibly a recapture, other of a different form)
10x Green Silver-lines (increase over last night)
16x Common Swift (slight increase)
2x Brindled White-spot
3x Scorched Wing
1x Shuttle-shaped Dart
2x Maiden's Blush
1x Clouded Silver
1x Poplar Hawk-moth
1x Pale Mottled Willow


Poplar Hawk-moth








Marbled Minor











Micro Moths

1x Ancylis mitterbacheriana
1x Argyresthia spinosella [NEW]
3x Ptycholoma lecheana
7x Coleophora sp.
1x Syndemis musculana
4x Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana
2x Teleiodes luculella
1x Celypha lacunana
3x Cnephasia sp.
1x Epiblema cynosbatella
1x Nematopogon swammerdamella
1x Esperia sulphurella


Ancylis mitterbacheriana







Argyresthia spinosella









160w Mercury Blended bulb with DIY Trap (under Oak and near bramble and sedges/grasses)

Macro Moths

2x Heart & Dart (1 beautifully marked specimen)
1x Ingrailed Clay (possible recapture)
1x Common Carpet
1x Chocolate-tip
1x Treble Lines
1x Green Carpet
1x Common Carpet
1x Common Pug
1x Mottled Pug
1x Foxglove Pug
2x Scorched Wing
3x Light Emerald
9x Orange Footman
3x Pale Tussock
1x Shuttle-shaped Dart

Chocolate Tip









Foxglove Pug









Heart & Dart











Micro Moths

1x Crambus lathoniellus
1x White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis sarcitrella
2x Ptycholoma lecheana
1x Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana
2x Cnephasia sp.
1x Bee Moth Aphomia sociella
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:40

6 comments:

  1. Stewart18 May 2011 at 20:08

    Hi Ben, that badiana looks unusual with the white spike up the middle. I haven't seen one like it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman18 May 2011 at 20:46

    Hi Stewart, I'm still not entirely sure of this ID, i've got people querying it now, never seen one either like that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Skev18 May 2011 at 21:38

    Definitely not badiana. If I squint enough I'd say it was an Epinotia sp. - may tenerana.

    ReplyDelete
  4. pabs19 May 2011 at 16:00

    Hi Ben,
    Not sure about your Argyresthia. There appears to be a white patch along the costal edge which would favour conjugella. Also, I can't make out for sure on the photo but can't see any gold in the wings either which is also good for conjugella. I could be wrong but it may be worth having another look. Cheers, Paul

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bennyboymothman19 May 2011 at 19:46

    Hi guys well the Ancylis species has been confirmed as a slightly worn Ancylis mitterbacheriana.

    As for the Argyresthia, i'm still not sure, there are no Apple trees present in this wood, I presume thats what it feeds on.

    Next time I will take the specimens home to get a better look!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bennyboymothman25 May 2011 at 18:15

    The Argyresthia has now been confirmed after dissection to be spinosella.

    ReplyDelete

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