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, 21 June 2011

Catch Report - 20/06/11 - Farmland/Back Garden - Hertfordshire

Had a night off on the 19th as it was clear and cool and didn't seem worth the early rise, last night was very much different, it looked perfect as I set up two traps to run on a timer switch at about 7pm, before the lights came on and about 8pm it slashed it down, so I decided to bring my 160w MBT trap in (as this bulb is very delicate in the rain) and just run the 125 Robinson.
The rain did continue but by about 12am, one final check revealed the rain had almost stopped but there was still a fine mizzle, the moths were everywhere! so I decided to leave it until 5.30am this morning.

Lots of species awaited me including a massive 11 Hawk-moths (6 Elephant, 4 Privet and 1 Lime)
Peppered Moth, Dusky Brocade, Dot Moth and Poplar Grey were all new for the site.
Also another 2 Triple-spotted Clay turned up (they aren't as rare as I thought! and most likely over-looked and confused with Double Square-spot)

Also the micro Agapeta zoegana was a completely new species for me.


Catch Report - 20/06/11 - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap - Farmland/back garden

Macro Moths

2x Peppered Moth [NFY]
1x Dusky Brocade [NFY]
1x Poplay Grey [NFY]
1x Bright-line Brown-eye [NFY]
1x Smoky Wainscot [NFY]
1x Dot Moth [NFY]
4x Privet Hawk-moth
6x Elephant Hawk-moth
1x Lime Hawk-moth
42x Nutmeg
40x Heart & Dart
6x Setaceous Hebrew Character
2x Triple-spotted Clay
8x Double Square-spot
1x Barred Straw
7x Common Footman
11x Flame
5x Dark Arches
2x Vine's Rustic
13x Uncertain
4x Common Wainscot
2x Turnip Moth
1x Snout
2x Shoulder-striped Wainscot
1x Clouded Silver
1x Brown Rustic
1x Treble Brown Spot
2x Riband Wave
1x Scorched Wing
2x Blood-vein
1x Straw Dot
3x Burnished Brass
1x Grey Pug
3x Marbled Minor
2x Beautiful Hook-tip
2x Heart & Club
2x Light Arches
4x Mottled Rustic
1x Dunbar
1x Large Yellow Underwing
1x Rustic Shoulder-knot
2x Buff Ermine
1x Large Twin-spot Carpet
2x Flame Shoulder



Poplar Grey












Dot Moth












Dark Arches
(left) Dusky Brocade (right) - Similiar markings but different size.












Peppered Moth







Triple-spotted Clays







Micro Moths

1x Agapeta zoegana [NEW!]
1x Eudemis profundana [NFY]
7x Agapeta hamana
2x Celypha striana

3x Cnephasia sp.
2x Hedya pruniana
2x
Bramble Shoot Moth Epiblema uddmanniana
2x Aleimma loeflingiana
2x Scoparia ambigualis
1x Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis cerasana
6x Crambus perlella
22x
Chrysoteuchia culmella
1x Archips podana

Agapea zoegana








Ringed China-mark













Eudemis profundana

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