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 11 May 2021

Bramfield Woods - Field Trip - 09/05/21

I joined Trevor at Bramfield Woods on Sunday night, after a warmish day of around 18 degrees.
 
The night was threatening rain from the South-west, but with a gentle breeze and no rain whilst setting up, it was either not going to reach us in time, or we would get wet for a long time sat under calm conditions.
The rain, or drizzle in fact, started at around 10.30pm, nearly 2 hours after lights on and made things a bit soggy, by half eleven we started to slowly pack up and finished bang on midnight, just when the deluge came, we couldn't have timed it better!
I still had generator issues, with one playing up again... it might need fully stripping down at some point.
All in all, a really good session and a great variety of moths were recorded albeit in relatively small numbers.
Highlight of the night of course had to go to, at least 15 Gravitarmarta margoratana, which were in all 3 of my traps and one of Trevor's. This is still the only site for this rare moth in Herts, and I believe is in 4 Counties now (Suffolk, Kent, Hertfordshire and now Essex as of the other day). 

When the weather picks up again, we shall be back.


Catch Report - Bramfield Woods - Central Herts - 09/05/21 - 6 traps - 2x 250w Clear Tubular MV Robinson Trap, 2x 125w Clear MV Trap, 1x MV Trap, 1x 160w MBT Trap

30 Macro Moth species & 27 Micro Moth species - 57 species in total

Macro Moths
 
Angle Shades 1
Barred Hook-tip 2
Brindled Pug 10
Chestnut 2
Common Quaker 4
Coxcomb Prominent 1
Dwarf Pug 5
Engrailed 1
Frosted Green 2
Hebrew Character 2
Pebble Prominent 1
Least Black Arches 5
Lesser Swallow Prominent 1
Lunar Marbled Brown 5
Maiden's Blush 2
Nut-tree Tussock 5
Oak-tree Pug 2
Oak Nycteoline 1
Orange Footman 1
Pale Tussock 6
Pebble Hook-tip 3
Pine Beauty 2
Pine Hawk-moth 1
Purple Thorn 2
Scalloped Hook-tip 2
Scorched Carpet 1
Seraphim 1
Spruce Carpet 1
Twin-spotted Quaker 1
Waved Umber 1
Micro Moths Acleris notana/ferrugana 1
Adela reamurella 3
Alucita hexadactyla 2
Carpatolechia proximella 1
Cochylis atricapitana 1
Dyseriocrania subpurpurella 12
Elachista argentella 1
Elachista rufocinerea 8
Epinotia immundana 6
Esperia sulphurella 1
Gravitarmarta margoratana 15
Hysterophora maculosana 1
Incurvaria masculella 1
Nematopogon swammerdamella 3
Pammene argyrana 3
Parornix sp 2
Phyllonorycter harrisella 2
Phyllonorycter messaniella 1
Phyllonorycter tenerella 1
Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella 1
Phylloporia bistrigella 1
Plutella xylostella 8
Pseudoswammerdamia combinella 1
Semioscopsis steinkelleriana 3
Stigmella betulicola 1
Syndemis musculana 5
Tinea trinotella 1
 
250w Clar MV Robinson Trap

160w MBT Trap

Carpatolechia proximella

Cochylis atricapitana

Dwarf Pug

Gravitarmata margarotana

Pammene argyrana

Phyllonorycter harrisella

Phylloporia bistrigella

Scalloped Hook-tip

 

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