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 17 April 2023

Two recent spring catches, things have picked up!

I ran the trap on the 13th and last night on the 16th, with barely any go in me lately being struck down by the dreaded virus, I ambled out this morning to see what had turned up.

Going on last year, my garden is nearly 2 weeks behind last years moths.

Back on the 13th there weren't very many moths at all, a handful of Quakers etc, best a year first Angle Shades, it felt morelike an early March catch!

I also currently have a variety of lures hanging in the garden, the NIG lure (For Cydia nigricana) also attracts 3 known species of Phyllonorycter, these being a complex in their own right.
I've been lucky to see all 3 of them here to the lure, blancardella is the most common, followed by hostis and then a single record of oxyacanthae.
I will get two of them dissected just to check, for now they will be aggregated.

Back to yesterday and with my beady eyes and net in hand, I managed to get 6 individuals of 4 species.
All 4 were new for the year.
Add to that another 3 new for year from the trap this morning plus 2x Water Carpets which are completely new for the garden.
8 newbies in total was a real boost.

A glut up Double-striped Pug with 8 recorded was another highlight.

The best moth of the day/night was a Caloptilia honoratella that I netted, this once rare moth seems to be well established now in the East.


Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 52 species
 
13/04/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Angle Shades 1 [NFY]
Clouded Drab 1
Common Quaker 2
Small Quaker 1
 
Micro Moths

Emmelina monodactyla 2


16/04/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Oak-tree Pug 2 [NFY]
Pebble Prominent 1 [NFY]
Streamer 1 [NFY]
Water Carpet 2 [NFG]
Common Quaker 1
Double-striped Pug 8
Hebrew Character 1
Small Quaker 3
 
Micro Moths

Agonopterix purpurea 1 [NFY - Netted]
Caloptilia honoratella 1 [NFY - Netted]
Caloptilia semifascia 2 [NFY - Netted]
Mompha subbistrigella 2 [NFY - Netted]
Agonopterix alstromeriana 1
Alucita hexadactyla 3
Emmelina monodactyla 3
 
Angle Shades

Phyllonorycter sp to NIG

Agonopterix purpurea

Caloptilia honoratella

Caloptilia semifascia

Double-striped Pug

Mompha subbistrigella

Oak-tree Pug

Pebble Prominent

Streamer

Water Carpet

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:47

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