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 30 July 2014

Less moths but more quality

Trapping under clear skies on Monday night yielded a mixed catch of quality moths and worn dross.
With temperatures getting a little chilly early morning recently, there is certainly an Autumnal feel in the early morning air.
Pick of the bunch was a Twin-spotted Wainscot, a garden first, along with other new moths such as Wormwood Pug, Mouse Moth, Iron Prominent and Orange Swift.

Also a lovely yellow-tinged Marbled Beauty caught my eye this morning.

A strange one this year, Common Carpet is my first record for this year! Totally missing out on the first brood for this species

Away from the moths I am also quite excited about receiving my new camera and lens, stepping up from my ageing 10.2mp Sony Alpha 200 I have bit the bullet and gone for a 3 year old Sony A65 24.3mp camera, hoping to use my old lenses as well as purchasing a Tamron 90mm 1:1 Macro (my current macro is a 1:2)


 Catch Report - 28/07/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Twin-spotted Wainscot [NFG] 
1x Wormwood Pug [NFG]
1x Common Carpet [NFY]
2x Iron Prominent [NFY]
2x Mouse Moth [NFY]
1x Orange Swift [NFY]
1x Campion
1x Clay
1x Cloaked Minor
1x Common Carpet
4x Common Rustic
3x Dark Arches
5x Dot Moth
1x Grey Dagger
1x Haworth's Pug
1x Large Twin-spot Carpet
1x Large Yellow Underwing
1x Lesser Yellow Underwing
1x Magpie Moth
1x Maiden's Blush
3x Marbled Beauty
1x Mottled Beauty
1x Nut-tree Tussock
2x Oak Hook-tip 
9x Riband Wave
2x Ruby Tiger
1x Rustic
1x Scarce Footman
2x Scalloped Oak
1x Setaceous Hebrew Character
4x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1x Silver-Y
2x Single-dotted Wave
4x Straw Underwing
2x Uncertain
1x Willow Beauty
3x Yellow Shell 

Micro Moths 

1x Epiblema foenella [NFG]
1x Acleris laterana [NFY]
2x Trachycera advenella
10x Blastobasis adustella
1x Epiphyas postvittana
5x Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
1x Emmelina monodactyla
5x Pleuroptya ruralis
1x Endrosis sarcitrella
1x Celypha striana
2x Argyresthia albistria



Campion











Mouse Moth











Wormwood Pug









Twin-spotted Wainscot










Marbled Beauty
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 18:44

4 comments:

  1. Trent Duval30 July 2014 at 19:56

    Nice catch ... Common Carpet numbers have been well down in my garden so far this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman31 July 2014 at 07:14

    Thanks Trent, Yep I went to double check on my excel spreadsheet and realised I hadn't had a record from the garden this year yet, despite catching quite a few out in the field!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lucy @ A Natural Interlude31 July 2014 at 09:29

    The Marbled Beauty lives up to its name and lovely markings on the Campion. Exciting news about your camera, Ben (I'm not green with envy or anything, honest!).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bennyboymothman1 August 2014 at 20:22

    Thanks, well it wasn't too expensive, I needed it after having my previous DSLR for 8 years...it has served me well!

    ReplyDelete

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