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

Wednesday 13 October 2021

Euzopherodes vapidella - New to Britain - 19/06/21

I trapped a rather unusual looking Ephestia species back on the 19th of June at my works Actinic Trap (Which subsequently is the trap I now run in my garden).
The moth was dissected a few months later by Graeme Smith, and instantly Graeme could not match it with any of the Ephestia genitalia plates available to him.
The moth genitalia slide was then sent to numerous experts in Europe to confirm that it wasn't from the genus Ephestia, but actually Euzopherodes which is a completely new genus for the British Isles.
 
Eventually the moth was identified as Euzopherodes vapidella and new to Britain, very exciting indeed!

The species feeds from the Carob Tree, a species native to the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

This is now my second new to Britain species (And nearly my 3rd after spotting the Parallel Lines last year on Trevor Brownsell's sheet whilst packing up. Trevor, the record is yours don't worry!)

The full article will be available in the next edition of The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation and can be purchased from the following link. https://www.entrecord.com/ which is edited by Colin Plant and whom was a great help in the aid to the identification of this new species.

Once again I have to thank Graeme Smith for his dedicated time and knowledge, and being able to carry out the dissection for me. Graeme provides quick turn-arounds on moth genitalia dissections and can be found on the following link. https://mothsurvey.org/

Euzopherodes vapidella - 19/06/21 - Bishop's Stortford, East Herts

Works Actinic Trap where the moth was found


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