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 25 February 2014

A mild wet and breezy night yields a Beauty!

Mild, with a few showers around and a bit cool at nights has been the theme of late, but last night we had plenty of cloud cover again like the previous night (when I only managed 3 Tortricodes alternella's)
Last night though was quite productive for my small garden.
Both Common Quaker (2) and Hofmannophila pseudospretella (1) were new for the year but the star of the catch and the only moth that wasn't in the trap was a stunning Oak Beauty, a regular in small numbers to the garden trap.
Still the egg boxes were comletely soaked and the trap inside was flooded, so we had had a generous portion of rain during the night.
Drying out time for the trays!


Edit! The suspected  Hofmannophila pseudospretella has turned out to be a Depressaria chaerophylli a first for me and my garden.
It was confirmed by my County recorder, below is an extract from the email I received.
                                                                               
No dissection required. 
Forewing costa concolorous with disc, no white spot on forewing (any white markings  if present are linear), segment 3 of labial palpus black with a pale tip and thorax paler than wings = chaerophylli.
Scarce, but under-recorded in Herts - 5 localities (we had 2 when we published the book). Not recorded in Middlesex. 
PHOTOGRAPHERS PLEASE NOTE the labial palps are critical. Ben got lucky, but always take a shot from the front as well as one from above, even if not in perfect focus. The palps are upturned, so a "head shot" shows their colour and scaliness easily. The "top shot" is also helpful not just for the characters described above, but because the upperside colour of the palps can also be important in a few species.
Hope this helps,
Colin

                                                                              


Catch Report - 23/02/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

None recorded!

Micro Moths

3x Tortricodes alternella
                                                                                                

Catch Report - 24/02/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

2x Common Quaker [NFY]
1x Oak Beauty [NFY]
1x March Moth
6x Chestnut

Micro Moths

1x Depressaria chaerophylli [NEW!]
1x Emmelina monodactyla

 Catch Report - 26/02/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

 1x March Moth

 Micro Moths

 None recorded!


Common Quaker











Depressaria chaerophylli










Oak Beauty

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 06:58

2 comments:

  1. Unknown1 March 2014 at 14:16

    Well done on the Depressaria, Ben.

    And the info to go with it is great.

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman2 March 2014 at 13:58

    Thanks Dave, yep invaluable info from expensive books!

    ReplyDelete

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