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

Friday 3 June 2016

A little behind, two catch reports from last week + INVASION!

Just before we went away, I persevered with running the trap under pretty cool and windy conditions, on the 27th of May I recorded a healthy 16 moths of 13 species, considering the awfully unseasonal conditions I added several new species for the year.
The most interesting species was a Dichrorampha of somekind that seemed to fit pictures of Dichrorampha aeratana perfectly.
As with most Dichrorampha species, they need seperating by dissection, so I set it and will send it away for verification in a few months or so, hoping for a new species for me.
On the 31st of May I recorded 2 species, yes TWO! But with 26 moths, 24 of them being the migrant Plutella xylostella, which seem to have descended on our Island in the hundreds of thousands! With massive reports of over 500+ individuals in fields across the south.
In Chester I found quite a few as well, around our B&B and at Chester Zoo.
I am back home now with the trap primed for the first June catch.

Catch Report - 27/05/16 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths
 
1x Marbled Minor [NFY]
1x Peppered Moth [NFY]
1x Common Marbled Carpet [NFY]
1x Angle Shades
1x Rustic Shoulder-knot
2x Brimstone Moth
1x Common Pug
1x Common Swift
1x Heart & Dart

Micro Moths

1x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana [NFY]
1x Argyresthia spinosella [NFY] 
1x Dichrorampha sp pos aeretana TBC [NFY]
2x Epiphyas postvittana
1x Mompha subbistrigella


Catch Report - 31/05/16 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths
2x Heart & Dart

Micro Moths

24x Plutella xylostella [NFY]

Peppered Moth










Dichrorampha sp pos aeretana TBC










Pseudargyrotoza conwagana













Marbled Minor













Plutella xylostella on our Clematis
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:25

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