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 11 July 2022

A thorny situation

3 species of Thorn graced the trap on Thursday night here in Fordham.
The 3 species in question were Early Thorn, August Thorn & Canary-shouldered Thorn.
Early Thorn is of the smaller darker generation, and the other two are single brooded species, both were new for the garden.
That makes 5 species of Thorn for the garden (Excluding the non genus related Feathered Thorn).

The only one left that I hope to add this year, is September Thorn.

Once again, micros dominate the catches as night time temperatures steadily climb to low double-figures, at time of typing it has been a very warm day of 33 degrees, and tonight is not set to drop below a heady 18 degres, it could be busy again!
Although i'm not only battling with the birds and spiders anymore, we have many beetles that constantly moving around the trap and are bashing into the moths, and also we now have a wasp nest in the eves of the roof, practically above the trapping area.
As you can imagine, it's not much fun dodging angry wasps every morning, luckily pest control are coming tomorrow. 

Highlights were the super red-eyed beast that is Acrocercops brongniardella, one I struggle to pronounce let alone catch, this is only my 2nd ever (The first was netted at dusk in Home Wood, Bedfordshire).
A 2nd Chrysoesthia drurella was also netted at dusk, what a beauty.

Scoparia subfusca was good to see, double the size of some of the Eudonias on the wall next to it!

Only new for year/garden & notable records listed below.
 
I hope you are all as busy as I am currently, and enjoying seeing the variety that mid-summer brings.

Moth garden list for 2022 stands at 486 species

07/07/22 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
August Thorn 1 [NFG]
Canary-shouldered Thorn 1 [NFG]

Micro Moths

Acrobasis advenella 1 [NFY]
Acrocercops brongniardella 1 [NFG]
Catoptria falsella 1 [NFY]
Cochylis dubitana 2 [NFY]
Eucosma conterminana 1 [NFG]
Pediasia contaminella 1 [NFG] 
Scoparia subfusca 1 [NFG]
Chrysoesthia drurella 1  
Coleophora sp 1 TBC
Dichrorampha vancouverana 2

Acrocercops brongniardella

August Thorn

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Chrysoesthia drurella

Cochylis dubitana

Coleophora sp

Dichrorampha vancouverana

Eucosma conterminana

Pediasia contaminella

Scoparia subfusca


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:12

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