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

Tuesday 28 May 2019

Amazing A-roads

Quite often, the habitats that are closest to polluting cars and litter strewn verges, somehow seem to carry on, despite the fact that we are throwing everything at them (quite literally in some cases).

An area of scrubland that was formed when a new A-road was dug out 15 years ago in 2004 has been left to flourish.
When the highways agency replanted the area between the new A10 and the old A10 (Ermine Street) they clearly didn't skimp.
I came across this site two years ago
At roughly 5 acres it is a susbstantial plot of mixed deciduous trees including Oak, Elm, Cherry, Apple, Hawthorn, Sloe and Dog-Rose, it is also home to a wide variety of flora including Trefoils, Knapweeds, Ox-eye Daisies, Thistles, Tares, Speedwells to name only but a few.

It has also brought me some very good moth species over the years, and so far this year...it's been no different!

Two species are exceptional and are probably over-looked elsewhere.

John Chainey and Jenny Spence added Coleophora amethystinella to the Herts list, a few days before I found at least 10 individuals flying in the sunshine around Smooth Tare, which seems prolific at the site. 
Another very good Coleophora record and one which the adult isn't on the wing yet, Coleophora conspicuella feeding evidence on Knapweeds was also observed, a few old cases were swept, but now i've found this years larvae. This is a moth that I added to the Herts list last year from my garden, with further adult records from Ashwell Quarry and at this site last year.

Last year I added 5 new species from this small site to my UK moth list.
This year so far i've added two already during two short trips, both Orthotaenia undulana and Coleophora amethystinella are new to me.

Here are some recent lists of sightings.


22/05/19


Macro Moths


Burnet Companion 1
Common Carpet 2
Latticed Heath 5


Micro Moths 


Spuleria flavicaput 1
Dicrorampha Flavidorsana/alpinana 4
Dicrorampha petiverella 1
Dichrorampha plumbagana 2
Cnephasia sp 10
Cauchas fibulella 2
Coleophora amethystinella 10 [NEW!] 
Epiblema cirsiana/scutulana 2
Glyphipterix simpliciella 5
Grapholita compositella 1
Hedya pruniana 1

28/05/19

Macro Moths


Burnet Companion 1
Cinnabar 5
Clouded Border 1
Common Carpet 1
Green Carpet 2
Latticed Heath 5
Mother Shipton 1
Silver-ground Carpet 1


Micro Moths

Adela fibulella 1
Argyresthia conjugella 1 
Cochylimorpha straminea 5
Coleophora amethystinella 5
Coleophora conspicuella 5 cases
Crambus lathoniellus 5
Dichrorampha acuminatana 1 
Dichrorampha plumbagana 2
Dichrorampha sequana 10 
Elachista argentella 1
Epiblema cirsiana/scutulana 1
Glyphipterix simpliciella 1
Hedya pruniana 2
Micropterix aruncella 1 
Nematopogon swammerdamella 1
Nemophora deegerella 1
Notocelia cynosbatella 5
Orthotaenia undulana [NEW!] 4
Phyllonorycter harrisella 1
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 3
Psyche casta 1
Scoparia pyralella 1
 
Habitat

Burnet Companion

Coleophora amethystinella

Coleophora conspicuella

Crambus lathoniellus

Dichrorampha acuminatana

Dichrorampha plumbagana

Dichrorampha sequana

Epinotia cirsiana/scutulana

Grapholita compositella

Orthotaenia undulana

Spuleria flavicaput

Scoparia pyralella

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