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 19 July 2021

Wallington Common & Coles Wood - Field Trip - 13/07/21

I made a field trip with Colin Plant to a new tetrad in the far North of Hertfordshire, with zero records! We were invited by the two local land-owners, one of whom showed us around upon arrival.
Basically, a long straight track down to a wood.
I was plagued by Horse-flies as soon as I stepped out of my car, so later on I sprayed insect repellant from head to toe and it staved off the little biting blighters thankfully.
Colin focused on the woodland and I was in charge of the track, where I positioned 2 traps overlooking the adjacent fields and one of the traps along the track, a mixture of Mercury Vapor and Actinic traps were used.
As we were setting up, cloud rolled in.. brilliant I thought! And then the breeze picked up and it vanished without a trace, the moon came up (albeit a slither) and the temperature decreased rapidly to a point where we could see our breath, and the sheets that I had laid underneath the traps were soaked.

Colin decided to stay the night and rise early morning (In short he said it wasn't really worth it)

I packed up at around 2am and was pleasantly surprised with the variety of moths present. Typical grassland/woodland species bolstered by a cast of wetland and chalkland species, maybe local movement was happening.
Highlight for me was a new species of Tortrix moth, a Male Archips rosana. 
 
Other moths of note included a duo of Twin-spot Carpet, an exceedingly (Mr.Kiplin would be proud) fresh Rhodophaea formosa, Delplanqueia dilutella/inscriptella, Hypochalcia ahenella and 6 Rush Veneer's hinting at some migration happening.

Below is my list for the night, 68 species a piece for the Macros & the Micros.

Wallington Common & Coles Wood  - Hertfordshire - 13/07/21 - 3 traps - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap, 1x Twin 15w Actinic Trap & 1x 160w Mercury Blended Trap

68 Macro Moth Species and 68 Micro Moth Species  - 136 Species in Total

Macro Moths

Barred Straw
Beautiful Golden Y
Beautiful Hook-tip
Blood-vein
Blue-bordered Carpet
Brown Rustic
Brown-line Bright-eye
Brown-tail
Burnished Brass
Clay
Clouded Border
Clouded-bordered Brindle
Common  Wave
Common Carpet
Common Footman
Common Rustic
Common Wainscot
Coronet
Dark Arches
Dark Spectacle
Dingy Footman
Double Square-spot
Dwarf Cream Wave
Elephant Hawk-moth
Engrailed
Flame
Flame Shoulder
Ghost Moth
Green Pug
Grey/Dark Dagger
Haworth's Pug
Heart & Club
July Highflyer
Large Yellow Underwing
Lychnis
Marbled Minor
Mottled Beauty
Mottled Rustic
Pale Prominent
Peppered Moth
Poplar Grey
Poplar Hawk-moth
Privet Hawk-moth
Riband Wave
Rustic
Scalloped Oak
Scarce Footman
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Shaded Broad-bar
Short-cloaked Moth
Silky Wainscot
Silky Wainscot
Silver Y
Single-dotted Wave
Small Blood-vein
Small Emerald
Small Fan-footed Wave
Smoky Wainscot
Snout
Spectacle
Straw Dot
Swallow-tailed Moth
Twin-spot Carpet 2
Uncertain
V-pug
Willow Beauty
Yellow Shell
Yellow-tail

Micro Moths

Accentria emphmerella
Acleris forsskaleana
Acrobasis repandana
Acrobasis suavella
Agapeta hamana
Agapeta zoegana
Agriphila tristella
Aleimma loeflingiana
Anania hortulata
Anarsia innoxiella
Ancylis achatana
Aphomia sociella
Archips crataegana
Archips podana
Archips rosana
Archips xylosteana
Argyresthia albistria
Blastobasis lacticolella
Celypha lacunana
Celypha rosaceana
Chrysoteuchia culmella
Clepsis consimiliana
Coleophora albitarsella
Coleophora sp 1 TBC
Crambus lathoniellus
Crambus perlella
Crassa unitella
Cydia nigricana
Delplanqueia dilutella/inscriptella
Eana incanana
Elachista cannapennella
Endothenia gentianaeana/marginana
Epinotia abbreviana
Epinotia signatana
Eucosma cana
Eucosma hohenwartiana
Eucosma obumbratana
Eudonia pallida
Gilmeria pallidactyla
Grapholita janthinana
Hedya nubiferana
Hedya pruniana
Hedya salicella
Homeosoma sinnuella
Hypochalcia ahenella
Metzneria metzneriella
Mompha ochraceella
Monochroa palustrellus
Nemapogon sp
Nomophila noctuella 6
Notocelia roborana
Notocelia trimaculana/roseocolana
Notocelia uddmanniana
Ostrinia nubilalis
Pandemis cerasana
Pandemis heperana
Parapoynx stratiotata
Paraswammerdamia nebulella
Phycita roborella
Pleuroptya ruralis
Plutella xylostella
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
Psyche casta
Rhodophaea formosa
Scoparia ambigualis
Scoparia pyralella
Tortrix viridana
Udea prunalis

Agriphila tristella

Archips rosana

Coleophora albitarsella

Coleophora sp 1 TBC

Delplanqueia dilutella/inscriptella

Hypochalcia ahenella

Rhodophaea formosa

Twin-spot Carpet

 

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