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 12 July 2023

Private Wood - Field Trip - 07/07/23

We returned to the new woodland that i've started surveying last Friday. 
A really warm and humid day, the night looked to be a corker, although it was clear skies, the moon wouldn't trouble us until at least midnight.
The only trouble was that the wind got up, quite noticeably as the night went on, but there were still hundreds and probably close to thousands of moths over the three traps that I ran.

A bit of a hitch whilst getting ready up, we had set up two other traps further into the woodland without testing the generator first, a massive schoolboy error, would it start? would it heck.
I've got to try and get it looked at again, luckily I brought the spare otherwise it would have been torch and net!

The moths were mental around the lights instantly, loads of Tortrix moths once more, and a good variety of micros in general.
What we did notice however, was the lack of macro moths, they were quite sparse and most species were represented by 5 to 10 individuals.
The only moth that bucked that trend was Minor Shoulder-knot, there must have been 50+
 
Micros really dazzled with some quality species.
 
The 4th county record of Elachista gleichenella was noted (after taking the 3rd on our last outing here)
 
But, best moth(s) of the night, because there were two of them! Was the tiny Elachista subocellea. A new moth for me, and not surprisingly really as it's really scarce.
The moth itself hasn't been seen since 1905 at Wicken Fen! 118 years late and I find it in a new woodland, that's what I love about moth recording, these little surprises that sometimes pop up.
 

We packed up at around 1am and it took a good hour and a half to empty the traps.

Full list below.

07/07/23 - Undisclosed Wood - Cambridgeshire - 3 traps, 250w Clear Mercury Robinson Trap, 160w MBT Trap and 62w Actinic Trap

Macro Moths - 99 species

Barred Straw
Barred Yellow
Beautiful Golden Y
Beautiful Hook-tip
Black Arches
Blackneck
Blood-vein
Blue-bordered Carpet
Bordered Beauty
Bright-line Brown-eye
Brimstone Moth
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Brown Scallop
Brown-tail
Brown Rustic
Brown-line Bright-eye
Buff Arches
Buff Footman
Buff-tip
Burnished Brass
Chinese Character
Clay
Cloaked Minor
Clouded Border
Clouded Brindle
Clouded Silver
Common Emerald
Common Footman
Common Rustic
Common Swift
Common Wainscot
Common Wave
Common White Wave
Coronet
Coxcomb Prominent
Dark Arches
Dotted Fan-foot
Double Square-spot
Drinker Moth
Dun-bar
Dusky Brocade
Early Thorn
Elephant Hawk-moth
Engrailed
Fan-foot
Flame
Flame Shoulder
Green Pug
Grey/Dark Dagger
Heart & Dart
Heart Club
July Highflyer
Lackey
Large Emerald
Large Twin-spot Carpet
Large Yellow Underwing
Latticed Heath
Leopard Moth
Light Arches
Lobster Moth
Maiden's Blush
Maple Prominent
Marbled Minor
Marbled White Spot
Miller
Minor Shoulder-knot
Mottled Beauty
Nut-tree Tussock
Olive
Pale Oak Beauty
Pale Prominent
Peppered Moth
Pine Hawk-moth
Plain Golden Y
Poplar Hawk-moth
Riband Wave
Rosy Footman
Rustic
Rufous Minor - Gen Det
Scarce Silver-lines
Scorched Wing
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Short-cloaked Moth
Silver Y
Single-dotted Wave
Slender Brindle
Slender Pug
Small Dotted Buff
Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Small Emerald
Small Fan-footed Wave
Small Scallop
Smoky Wainscot
Spectacle
Straw Dot
Swallow-tailed Moth
Uncertain
Wormwood Pug
Yellow-tail

Micro Moths - 106 species

Acentria ephemerella
Achroia grisella
Acleris forsskaleana
Acleris hastiana
Acleris notana/ferrugana
Acompsia cinerella
Acrobasis consociella
Acrobasis repandana
Agapeta hamana
Agonopterix alstromeriana
Anania coronata
Anania perlucidalis
Anarsia innoxiella
Ancylis achatana
Apotomis betuletana
Archips crataegana
Archips podana
Archips rosana
Archips xylosteana
Argyresthia albistria
Argyresthia pruniella
Batia lunaris
Batrachedra praeangusta
Blastobasis lacticolella
Blastodacna hellerella
Carcina quercana
Catoptria pinella
Celypha lacunana
Chrysoteuchia culmella
Cnephasia sp
Crambus lathoniellus
Crambus pascuella
Crambus perlella
Crassa unitella
Cydia fagiglandana
Cydia inquinatana
Cydia pomonella
Cydia splendana
Dioryctria abietella
Ditula angustiorana
Eidophasia messingiella
Elachista gleichenella
Elachista maculicerusella
Elachista subocellea
Emmetia marginea
Endotricha flammealis
Epinotia abbreviana
Epinotia nisella
Epinotia signatana
Epinotia tenerana
Eucosma cana
Eucosma hohenwartiana
Eudemis profundana
Eudonia lacustrata
Eudonia mercurella
Euzophera pinguis
Gelechia sororculella
Glyphipterix simplicella
Gypsonoma dealbana
Hedya nubiferana
Hedya pruniana
Hedya salicella
Hofmannophila pseudospretella
Homoeosoma sinuella
Hypsopygia glaucinalis
Lathronympha strigana
Micropterix aruncella
Nematopogon metaxella
Nomophila noctuella
Notocelia trimaculana
Notocelia uddmanniana
Orthotaenia undulana
Oxypteryx atrella
Pandemis cerasana
Pandemis heparana
Parachronistis albiceps
Parapoynx stratiotata
Paraswammerdamia albicapitella
Paraswammerdamia nebulella
Phalonidia manniana
Phycita roborella
Phyllonorycter joannisi
Phyllonorycter trifasciella
Pleuroptya ruralis
Plutella xylostella
Pterophorus pentadactyla
Pyrausta purpuralis
Rhopobota naevana
Scoparia ambigualis
Scoparia basistrigalis
Scoparia pyralella
Scythropia crataegella
Spilonota ocellana
Stenoptilia pterodactyla
Teleiodes luculella
Teleiodes vulgella
Tinea semifulvella
Tinea trinotella
Tortrix viridana
Udea olivalis
Yponomeuta cag/mal/pad
Yponomeuta evonymella
Yponomeuta rorella
Ypsolopha dentella
Ypsolopha parenthesella
Ypsolopha sequella 

250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Acleris hastiana

Bordered Beauty

Elachista subocellea

Epinotia nisella

Gelechia sororculella

Micropterix aruncella

Oxypteryx atrella

Phyllonorycter joannisi

Small Scallop


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