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

Thursday 18 July 2013

My first ever 200+ species in one night

 An absolutely astonishing evening I had with good friends Graham Bailey and Don Down. An evening totally eclipsing my previous highest count of 197 species, from this very site a few years back now. The weather was perfect, a little breezy at first but plenty of thin cloud cover and very mild.
Do set his tripod up first and witin seconds things were flying around it, the usual stuff first and then a few specialities. 
It was a slow start mind and as we found out when we were packing up at 2am, species were still comng in!
The traps on inspection as we slowly packed up, were brimming with moths and there were so many that it was difficult to breath in whilst looking through the catch with fear of inhaling one of the moths.
Highlights for me were not one but two Marbled Green, we did see this moth here a few years ago, but both Graham and I attracted one each, a very special moth indeed. We also managed other resident specialities such as Garden Tiger, White-line Dart, Reed Dagger, Lappet and Silky Wainscot.
All in all it was a night that I won't forget in a hurry and thoroughly worth the 2 hours of sleep I got before going to work in the morning!

232 - total species  (151 Macros and 81 Micros)

Numbers and species all correct.



15/07/13 – Canvey Island - 1x 125 MV on tripod, 1x Home-made Skinner-type trap and Gardner light bar 2x40w actinic + 150W Halogen bulb, 1x 125 MV Robinson and a 40w Actinic + 26w CFL Bulb, run from 10.00pm until 2.00am

Macro Moths 

2x Angle Shades
4x Scarce Footman
2x Brown Rustic
2x Small Fan-foot
1x Brown Scallop
1x Buff Ermine
1x Privet Hawk-moth
4x Bordered Sallow
5x Barred Straw
40+ Barred Yellow
2x Beautiful Hook-tip
1x Blackneck
4x Blue-bordered Carpet
3x Bordered Pug
5x Bright-line Brown-eye
10x Brimstone Moth
1x Broad-barred White
1x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
1x Brown Silver-line
2x Brown-line Bright-eye
10x Brown-tail
30+ Buff Arches 

1x Buff Footman
3x Buff-tip
1x Burnished Brass
1x Chinese Character
30+ Clay
2x Cloaked Minor
20+ Clouded Border
2x Clouded Brindle
30+ Clouded Silver
1x Clouded-bordered Brindle
2x Common Carpet
5x Common Emerald
10x Common Footman
2x Common Marbled Carpet
5x Common Rustic
2x Common Wave

40+ Common White Wave
3x Coxcomb Prominent
10x Cream-bordered Green Pea
20+ Dark Arches
2x Dark Spinach
1x Dark Sword-grass
1x Dingy Shears

8x Dotted Fan-foot
2x Dot Moth
2x Double Square-spot
1x Double-striped Pug
5x Drinker
2x Dun-bar
5x Dusky Brocade
3x Dwarf Cream Wave
2x Early Thorn
10x Elephant Hawk-moth
2x Engrailed
2x Eyed Hawk-moth
2x Fan-foot
1x Fen Wainscot

70+ Flame
10+ Flame Shoulder
1x Garden Carpet
2x Garden Tiger
5x Green Pug
5x Grey Dagger
4x Heart & Club
5x Heart & Dart
1x Herald
2x Iron Prominent
5x July Highflyer
10+ Kent Black Arches
2x Lackey
2x Lappet
10x Large Emerald
3x Large Yellow Underwing
1x Latticed Heath
2x Least Carpet
1x Least Yellow Underwing
3x Leopard Moth
1x Lesser Cream Wave
2x Lesser Yellow Underwing
5x Light Arches
1x Light Brocade
5x Light Emerald
1x Lime Hawk-moth
1x Lime-speck Pug
1x Lunar-spotted Pinion
6x Magpie
2x Maple Prominent
3x Marbled Beauty
2x Marbled Green
5x Marbled Minor
10x Marbled White Spot
8x Miller
5x Mottled Beauty
2x Mottled Rustic
1x Mullein Wave
1x Oak Eggar
1x Oak nycteoline
2x Pale Oak Beauty
2x Pale Prominent

8x Peach Blossom
1x Pebble Hook-tip 

5x Pebble Prominent
15x Peppered Moth
1x Pine Hawk-moth
10x Plain Pug
2x Poplar Grey
2x Poplar Hawk-moth
2x Obscure Wainscot

1x Reed Dagger
15x Riband Wave

5x Round-winged Muslin
1x Ruby Tiger
5x Rustic
1x Scalloped Oak
1x Scarce Silver-lines
2x Setaceous Hebrew Character
2x Shaded Broad-bar
10x Shaded Pug
2x Shark
5x Sharp-angled Peacock
3x Short-cloaked Moth
5x Shoulder-striped Wainscot
5x Silky Wainscot
2x Silver-Y
2x Single-dotted Wave
8x Slender Pug
2x Small Blood-vein
1x Small Dotted Buff
1x Small Emerald
3x Small Scallop
5x Smoky Wainscot
2x Snout
4x Southern Wainscot
1x Spectacle
2x Star-wort
2x Straw Dot
3x Suspected
1x Swallow Prominent
10x Swallow-tailed Moth
2x Tawny Marbled Minor
5x Uncertain
3x V-pug
2x Vapourer
1x White Ermine
10x White-line Dart
2x White-point
2x Willow Beauty
3x Wormwood Pug
2x Yellow Shell
1x Yellow-tail


Micro Moths

1x Thiodia citrana [NEW!]
3x Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla [NEW!]
2x Trachycera marmorea [NEW!]
1x Apotomis lineana [NEW!]
1x Altenia scriptella [NEW!]
1x Phlyctaenia stachydalis [NEW!]
1x Phycitodes sp pos maritima [NEW!] to be gen det

5x Phycita roborella
1x Tinea semifulvella
1x Caloptilia alchimiella
2x Scythropia crataegella
5x Yponomeuta evonymella
2x Paraswammerdamia albicapitella
5x Argyresthia brockeella
10x Argyresthia goedartella
2x Argyresthia curvella
2x Plutella xylostella
10x Coleophora sp
2x Coleophora mayrella
10x Blastobasis laticolella
1x Hoffmannophila pseudospretella
5x Batia unitella
1x Batia lunaris
2x Carcina quercana
2x Anacampsis blattariella
2x Emmelina monodactyla
1x Adaina microdactyla
2x Phtheochroa inopiana
1x Agapeta hamana
5x Cochylis hybridella
2x Aethes rubigana
1x Pandemis cerasana
3x Pandemis heparana
5x Archips podana
5x Archips xylosteana
2x Aphelia paleana
2x Tortrix viridana
20x Aleimma loeflingiana
2x Acleris forsskaleana
2x Epiphyas postvittana
2x Ditula angustiorana
5x Ephestia parasitella
10x Trachycera advenella
10x Udea prunalis
5x Cnephasia sp
5x Celypha striana
2x Celypha lacunana
1x Batrachedra praeangusta
5x Apotomis capreana
100+ Hedya salicella
10x Epinotia biluna
8x Gypsonoma dealbana
2x Eucosma campoliliana
2x Epiblema foenella
5x Epiblema uddmanniana
2x Aphomia sociella
10x Synaphe punctalis
30x Melissoblaptes zelleri
5x Platytes alpinella
5x Oncocera semirubella
10x Calamotropha paludella
5x Homoeosoma sinuella
2x Crambus perlella
5x Catoptria pinella
2x Catoptria falsella
5x Chrysoteuchia culmella
5x Ancylis achatana
1x Schoenobius gigantella
4x Dipleurina lacustrata
2x Accentria ephemerella
2x Scoparia ambigualis
2x Elophila nymphaeata
2x Cataclysta lemnata
1x Evergestis extimalis
2x Pyrausta despicta
4x Eurrhypara hortulata
1x Sitochroa verticalis
1x Ostrinia nubilalis
2x Perinephela lancealis
5x Phlyctaenia perlucidalis
3x Ebulea crocealis



Apotomis lineana










Batrachedra praeangusta










Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla











Dark Spinach










Evergestis extimalis











Garden Tiger










Gypsonoma Dealbana











Least Yellow Underwing










 
Magpie Moth











Marbled Green












Phlyctaenia stachydalis











Platytes alpinella










Sitochroa verticalis











Suspected












Thiodia citrana










Trachycera marmorea












Reed Dagger










Mullein Wave









3 comments:

  1. That's incredible! I think records are being broken everywhere at the moment Ben.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic list and images, Ben. Impossible to choose a favourite but loving the P. alpinella and Suspected.

    And here I was thinking I was doing well in the back garden with 141 species two nights ago...

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks guys, it has been absolutely madness and not a huge amount of time for the garden, although I have one report to write up sometime.
    I will post two videos soon of the night.

    ReplyDelete