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 22 May 2021

Latest from the garden - 21/05/21

The catch last night was pretty poor to say the least, 5 of 5 found in and around the trap.
With a minimum temperature of 10c, less wind but still a bit wet, in a normal year I would expect a few more.
This time last year it was 22c (cooling down after a high of 28c 2 days prior) and minimum of a similar 12 degrees. The catch? 66 moths of 24 species.
 
One species was new for year, the longhorn micro Nematopogon swammerdamella

All was not totally lost though, I was sweeping the patio after the rain and wind had left lots of lovely fresh Sycamore leaves everywhere, such a shame to see them blown off. 
I accidentally bumped off a Pale Prominent with the broom underneath the french door, and then not a minute went by and a Vine's Rustic landed on the fence, I must have disturbed that as well! Both are new species for the year.
If that wasn't enough, I took a trundle down to the shed at the bottom of the garden, looked to my right on our Ash tree, and there was another moth, a pretty micro Esperia sulphurella and yet another addition to the year list.
3 more moths were also found skulking from the rain on the leaves of another bush, all three were Adela reamurella.
 
Speaking of Ash, I found a tiny caterpillar on it two weeks ago, said caterpillar is now growing well and is my first larval record of Pale Brindled Beauty. He or She is happily munching away on fresh Ash leaves as I write.
 
The trap may go on again tonight and then it's another early night trying to recover from this blasted chest infection.

Moth species for 2021 in the garden now stands at 58.

21/05/21 - Back Garden - Stevenage - North Herts - 125w MV Robinson Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
Pale Prominent 1 [NFY]
Vine's Rustic 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 1
Garden Carpet 1
Nut-tree Tussock
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1

Micro Moths
 
Esperia sulphurella 1 [NFY] (Daytime)
Nematopogon swammerdamella 1 [NFY]
Adela reamurella 3 (Daytime)

Adela reamurella

Esperia sulphurella

Nematopogon swammerdamella

Pale Brindled Beauty Caterpillar

Pale Prominent

Vine's Rustic


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:16

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