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

Friday 7 April 2023

Chippenham Fen - Field Trip - 05/04/23

My first proper field trip was enjoyed on Wednesday night at my local nature reserve.
I say enjoyed, well it wasn't windy for once and actually fairly mild well past dark.
 
But the rain was a problem, it literally started as I drove off the driveway! It wasn't forecast to get heavy until 11pm, this was also not true, as it belted it down an hour after turning up at around 8:30pm.
 
Still, the moths were there, albeit in sparse numbers, I reckon I would have doubled the catch had it stayed dry, but it was great to give it a go and finally see a good variety of early Spring species. 
 
It's always interesting to see less garden moths whilst out, like Early Grey & Common Quaker which turned up in singles, yet Red Chestnut was common as was Water Carpet, the former rare in the garden and the latter not recorded yet.

Best moths of the night were a single worn Early Toopth-striped, not a common moth in the east as it is in other parts of the country, a great looking Clouded Drab, with it's scorched-like markings, and 2 great micros, Acleris literana and Semioscopis steinkellneriana.

I also observed two fantastic beetles, one Weeveil and Chequered Beetle, the latter fairly rare, I saw 3 on one dead tree! both brilliant looking beetles.

I will be back on a dry night next time.

 
05/04/23 - Chippenham Fen - East Cambridgeshire - 250w Clear Mercury Robinson Trap, 160w MBT Trap and 62w Actinic Trap


Macro Moths 

Clouded Drab 10
Common Quaker 2 
Double-striped Pug 2
Early Grey 1
Early Thorn 2
Early Tooth-striped 1
Engrailed 4
Grey Shoulder-knot 2
Hebrew Character 7
March Moth 12
Red Chestnut 10
Red-green Carpet 1
Shoulder-stripe 1
Water Carpet 10

Micro Moths

Acleris literana 1
Agonopterix alstromeriana 1 
Agonopterix arenella 2
Diurnea fagella 1
Semioscopis steinkellneriana 1
 
62w Actinic Bucket Trap

Acleris literana

Chippenham Fen

Clouded Drab

Early Thorn

Early Tooth-striped

Platyrhinus resinosus

Semioscopis steinkellneriana

Thanasimus formicarius

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:40

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