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, I have now removed commenting as the bots were starting to appear
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Thursday, 18 May 2017

Another garden first!

On Tuesday morning I was greeted by a further 7 new species for the year, making it 15 in just two back to back nights which is mildy impressive for my garden this time of year.

Best of all was a garden first Ochreous Pug, last seen in 2012 and my first ever record for Hertfordshire! It is a pine feeding species and we don't have a great deal of coniferous woodland near us.

Also my second migrant moth for the year turned up in the shape of a rather brown and mottled Plutella xylostella.
 
Catch Report - 15/05/17 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Ochreous Pug [NFG]
1x Bright-line Brown-eye [NFY]
1x Grey Dagger [NFY]
1x Mottled Pug [NFY]
2x Brimstone Moth
1x Chocolate-tip
2x Common Pug
1x Garden Carpet
8x Shuttle-shaped Dart

Micro Moths

1x Argyrotaenia ljungiana [NFY] 
2x Caloptilia robustella/alchimiella [NFY]
1x Plutella xylostella [NFY]
1x Aphomia sociella
2x Epiphyas postvittana
Scalloped Hazel











Plutella xylostella











Ochreous Pug











Grey Dagger













Caloptilia robustella/alchimiella












Bright-line Brown-eye











Argyrotaenia ljungiana


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:34