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

Saturday 20 October 2018

Garden Catch 23/07/18 - A night of quality

Another lovely catch under warm and calm conditions, the trap was heaving by my garden standards.

 Highlights were...

Brown-line Bright-eye is never common here, this being my fourth record in 6 years, new for year and subsequently the only record for 2018...and it could have been a better specimen, by jove! 

A second Oak Processionary (after the first last year) was recorded also. A pest species that seems to have it's stronghold around the big parks in the Boroughs of London. Now seen spreading North-wards and fanning out, in fact my second was at Ashwell at the end of July and represents the most northerely record of the species for Hertfordshire.

Also second garden records of Marbled White-spot and Agonopterix purpurea (The former surprising as it's a common moth in the County).
Agonopterix purpurea is a very early record for me.

Acrolepia autumnitella was lovely to see and just the third for the garden. 

The best til' last, a garden first Heather feeder Aristotelia ericinella. Totally unexpected but being caught at a similiar time to 20+ trapped at Nomansland Common by Grame Smith, in fact a week later it turned up at Ashwell! nodding to suggestions that with the warm humid air it was dispersing, much like what we experience with wetland wanderer's.
In must have had a good year and a new species for me to boot!

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 428.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 23/07/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Brown-line Bright-eye
Marbled White-spot
Oak Processionary

Micro Moths

Acrolepia autumnitella
Agonopterix purpurea
Aristotelia ericinella [NEW!]

Acrolepia autumnitella

Agonopterix purpurea

Aristotelia ericinella

Brown-line Bright-eye

Marbled White-spot

Oak Processionary
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:46

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