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 18 May 2022

The calm before another BIG storm

Monday's catch was pretty respectable for the time of year, 22 species were recorded at dawn. 
But, things were about to go a bit silly, with warm and humid air drifting upwards and spurring the moths on darmatically, last night was in the region of 65 species! a massive jump as all the stars aligned, no wind, no moon, full cloud and with minimums of 14 degrees.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves and enjoy the moths I recorded on Monday night.

Plenty of interest to be found lurking amongst the egg trays, Shears and Phtheochroa rugosana the best. Phtheochroa rugosana is one incredible looking moth, with it's bumpy textures and tufts here and there. The Shears was also in particularly fine order.
 
A Silver Y was seen resting in the bucket lure trap for Cydia servillana, accidental possibly, but it's the first of the year.
 
Still the threat of thunderstorms continue here, as the humidity builds by the hour.

Moth garden list for 2022 stands at 199 species

16/05/22 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
Light Emerald 1 [NFY]
Shears 1 [NFG]
Silver Y 1 [NFY] (To Cydia servillana lure)
Brimstone Moth 5
Buff-tip 1
Chocolate-tip 1
Common Carpet 1
Iron Prominent 2
Pale Tussock 3
Treble Lines 4
Turnip Moth 2
Waved Umber 2
Willow Beauty 4

Micro Moths

Argyresthia spinosella 1 [NFG]
Bucculatrix bechsteinella 2 [NFY]
Elachista argentella 1 [NFG] 
Phtheochroa rugosana 1 [NFG]
Alucita hexadactyla 1
Cochylis atricapitana 2
Epiphyas postvittana 10
Evergestis forficalis 1
Plutella xylostella 1
Pseudoswammerdamia combinella 1
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1 
 
Shears

Silver Y

Phtheochroa rugosana

Light Emerald

Bucculatrix bechsteinella

Argyresthia spinosella

 


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