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

Monday 9 May 2016

Field Trip - Bovingdon Brickworks - Bovingdon - 08/05/16


Last night I was joined by Roger and Steve at Bovingdon Brickworks just outside of the village of Bovingdon, roughly 5 miles South-West of Hemel Hempstead.
The reserve was formerly a brickworks and is consequently very sandy with undulating pits making it quite a unique trapping location that is full of wild flowers.

David had already setup his MV Robinson at Gadesprings which we would return to after packing up from Bovingdon.
We did a lengthy walk from the cars with the equipment which isn't for the faint-hearted, set up a total of four traps, an actinic in the wooded section and then three other traps scattered around the pits.
The weather was pretty much perfect minus cloud cover, but we didn't need it as it was still 16 degrees when I was driving home at half 2! With the day-time temperature peaking at a heady 27 degrees, we were confident that even if the sky stayed clear that it would take a few hours for the temperature to drop, and a few hours is all we needed.


Best moth of the night was a pretty scarce moth for Hertfordshire but seemingly common in other parts o the Country,
Early Tooth-striped a new moth for me! 
Other species of note were mainly micros with a few still to sort out.
Three stunning
Cydia strobilella were great to get, and a Herts scarce species along with my third new species an Incurvaria pectinea.

It was great to finally see good numbers of moths and many species numbered into double-figures.


Catch Report - 08/05/16 - Bovingdon Brickworks - Bovingdon- 2x 125w MV Robinson Traps 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap and 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap


Macro Moths

1x Early Tooth-striped [NEW!]
12x Small Phoenix 
8x Nut-tree Tussock
4x Clouded Drab
4x Early Thorn
7x Lunar Marbled Brown 
1x Chinese Character
7x Common Quaker
4x Brimstone Moth
9x Least Black Arches
1x Common Pug
1x Purple Thorn
13x Streamer
1x Red-green Carpet
8x Waved Umber
4x Frosted Green
3x Pale Tussock
12x Seraphim
8x Oak-tree Pug
1x Hebrew Character
1x Spruce Carpet
1x Green Carpet 
1x Garden Carpet
1x Double-striped Pug
1x Clouded Border
2x White-spotted Pug
1x Orange Footman
1x Bright-line Brown-eye
1x Mottled Pug
1x Flame Shoulder
1x Iron Prominent 
1x Water Carpet
3x Angle Shades
3x Brindled Pug
4x Red Twin-spot Carpet
1x Chestnut
2x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1x Swallow Prominent
2x Shoulder-stripe
1x Oak Hook-tip
1x Powdered Quaker
1x Maiden's Blush
1x Scalloped Hazel
1x Pale Pinion
1x Engrailed

Micro Moths

3x Cydia strobilella [NEW!]
1x Incurvaria pectinea [NEW!]
1x Endrosis sarcitrella
1x Bucculatrix nigricomella
3x Agonopterix arenella
2x Epiphyas postvittana
1x Parornix sp
3x Acleris cristana
1x Agonopteris heracliana
1x Caloptilia alchimiella
1x Capua vulgana
2x Incurvaria masculella
2x Dyseriocrania subpurpurella
1x Monpis weaverella
1x Aphomia sociella
2x Syndemis musculana
1x Swammerdamia pyrella
1x Scrobipalpa costella
1x Phyllonorycter leucographella
3x Mompha raschkiella



Catch Report - 08/05/16 - Gadesprings - Hemel Hempstead - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths


1x Pale Tussock
2x Common Quaker
3x Clouded Drab
2x Hebrew Character
3x Double-striped Pug
1x Frosted Green
1x Spectacle
1x Angle Shades
1x Oak-tree Pug 
1x Green Carpet
1x Light Brocade
1x Brindled Pug
1x Brimstone Moth


Micro Moths

1x Aphomia sociella



Bucculatrix nigricomella










Early Tooth-striped












The Gear









Trap location









Incurvaria pectinea











Cydia strobilella











Acleris cristana


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