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

Monday 12 July 2021

Catch report - 03/07/21 - Back garden

Slipping a bit with my garden reports!
 
Another mild night back on the 3rd (I think it was a Saturday night, although it feels so long ago already) and the catch was really good in my garden, with lots of new species for the year featuring. Numbers remain low, at least 1/3rd down on the last two years here on average each night. 
 
I was pleased to record my first ever Coleophora anatipennella, with a bit of research and memory (I've spent years diving in Lepidoptera books) I was able to key this specimen out. The larvae was bred through from a case collected feeding from Hawthorn in my local patch and hatched this evening.

Another good micro was a single Diplodoma laichartingella found on the stairway indoors! I record the cases every year in the garden, but this is only my second adult encounter.
Elophila nymphaeata was only my 2nd garden record (And only added last year), and two Grapholita lobarzewskii were very pleasing to record to light (I don't have the LOB lure yet).  
 
A stunning Ypsolopha sequella seemed rather early also, what a great looking moth.
 
Highlights for the larger moths were a beautiful green July Highflyer and smart Phoenix. 
 
As I type and after a few rocky days of weather it's set to improve dramatically, get ready for more sleepless nights!

Only new for year species listed below.

Moth species for 2021 in the garden now stands at 248.

03/07/21 - Back Garden - Stevenage - North Herts - 125w MV Robinson Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
July Highflyer 1 [NFY]
Lackey 1 [NFY]
Phoenix 1 [NFY]
Short-cloaked Moth 1 [NFY]
Small Blood-vein 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 
Ancylis achatana 1 [NFY]
Argyresthia goedartella 1 [NFY]
Coleophora anatipennella 1 [NFG]
Diplodoma laichartingella 1 [NFY]
Elophila nymphaeata 1 [NFY]
Grapholita lobarzewskii 2 [NFY]
Gypsonoma dealbana 1 [NFY]
Helcystogramma rufescens 1 [NFY]
Phycita roborella 2 [NFY]
Phycitodes binaevella 1 [NFY] 
Scoparia ambigualis 1 [NFY]
Yponomeuta cag mal pad  1 [NFY]

Coleophora anatipennella

Diplodoma laichartingella

Grapholita lobarzewskii

Gypsonoma dealbana

July Highflyer

Phoenix


 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:19

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)