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

Sunday 16 July 2023

Two latest catches

It's been rather quiet here lately, species and numbers have nose-dived in the last few nights. 

So here's two catches from Wednesday and Friday night, both only featured between 20 and 30 species.
Luckily there's been a few new moths for the year showing up, and even three new garden moths. 
 
A second Gelechia nigra was noteworthy, as were 2 Royal Mantle's on the same night.
 
The first new moth in question, was a confirmed Hoary Footman. Hindwing checked and run past Bill, it was a moth I saw frequently in Hertfordshire.
 
The second was Buff Footman, an expected tick at some point. 

And the third was a Lunar-spotted Pinion, a welcome addition and completes the full set of Cosmia species here.
 
Not only has the trap been quiet, but the lure traps have also been very poor. Until Friday evening when I was going around all of the bucket lures, and noticed a Raspberry Clearwing in the TAB lure (I've got the HYL out as well for this particular species). I can't believe it came to the lure in all of that rain and wind, proving that Clearwings don't need sunshine to be on the move.

And just today, during all that wind.. another has turned up to the HYL this time!


Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 509 species
 

12/07/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Maple Pug 1 [NFY]
Marbled White Spot 1 [NFY]
Royal Mantle 2 [NFY]
 
Micro Moths

Carcina quercana 1 [NFY]
 
14/07/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Buff Footman 1 [NFG]
Hoary Footman 1 [NFG]
Lunar-spotted Pinion 1 [NFG]
Raspberry Clearwing 1 [NFY] to TAB Lure
 
Micro Moths

Acleris variegana 1 [NFY]
Agriphila straminella 1 [NFY] 

Carcina quercana

Maple Pug

Royal Mantle

Acleris variegana

Buff Footman

Hoary Footman

Lunar-spotted Pinion

Raspberry Clearwing


 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:34

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