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

Tuesday 2 May 2023

One new species for the garden! May there be moths..

Last night was quite mild actually by recent nights standards, a low of 10 degrees, and it felt rather humid with dominant cloud cover and winds from the west which dropped completely at dusk.

Before the trap was switched on, I did a spot of dusking with the net, and bagged 5 moths, two of which were new additions to the year list, so well worth the effort for half an hour.

Most of the moths of the night were potted up before I went to bed. From 10:30pm until 5am this morning, there were just 2 extra moths, and it's worth noting that the trap was completely empty! really emphasing the benefits of working a trap through the night.

I was very pleased with the a new species for the garden, Early Tooth-striped (Probably expected eventually as it's in the area, sadly quite worn) and the second garden record of the phonetical nightmare that is Phtheochroa rugosana, a bumpy lumpy odd looking totrix, a spectacular micro moth indeed.
 
I tried photographing the moths after work and it was a little dark by the time I got round to it, which proved difficult focusing on the micros.

Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 88 species
 
01/05/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Early Tooth-striped 1 [NFG]
Iron Prominent 1 [NFY]
Seraphim 1 [NFY]
Clouded Drab 2
Garden Carpet 2
Hebrew Character 2
Pebble Prominent 1
 
Micro Moths
 
Cameraria ohridella 1 [NFY] (Netted at dusk)
Mompha epilobiella 1 [NFY] (Netted at dusk)
Phtheochroa rugosana 1 [NFY]
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Platyedra subcinerea 4 
 
Phtheochroa rugosana

Mompha epilobiella

Iron Prominent

Early Tooth-striped

Cameraria ohridella

Seraphim

 
 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:57

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