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, 2 August 2023

Goodbye July, will it be an awesome August?

Well what a July that was, the weather never really settled throught the whole month and most trapping efforts were thwarted by wind, rain, cooler temperatures and sometimes all three in one night, the moths were confused and some nights were terrible whereas others were about on par with an average year.

Towards the end of the month, hints of late Summer/early Autumn were already showing. With many Square-spot Rustic records already (Although not here just yet).

So you can imagine my surprise last night with a huge catch of moths, well species in particular, I counted around 90 species before bedtime, and thinking I may break the tonne mark by dawn, and yes I did! With 108 species in total and one to be dissected.

I decided to stay up until nearly 1am and work the trap and then rise at around 4:30 to go through the trap, only made possible because I was granted a 9am lie in on a day-off. 

It was so worth it, the species kept coming in, mostly in singles and doubles, some big winners again were Yponomeuta rorrella (60+) Yponomeuta cag/mal/pad (20+) Least Carpet (40+) Nutmeg (20+) and a surprise of (12) Yellow Shells!

Two new species for the garden were potted up, both micros.. the tiny Phyllonorycter trifasciella and Ypsolopha sylvella, the former i've been waiting for, for a long while, it was expected at some point as I am surrounded with gardens dripping in honeysuckle.

The latter was the complete opposite and very unexpected, it was a moth I was familiar with in my old haunt in Herts, a few records per year but never common. Here in Cambridgeshire it seems that it is very rare, with just one previous county record in 2005! A very welcome garden tick.

3 super macros were also added to the year list; Black Arches, Dog's Tooth & Marbled Clover.

What a night.

Tonight doesn't look very good, but you just never know.


Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 544 species
 

01/08/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Black Arches 1 [NFY]
Dog's Tooth 1 [NFY]
Marbled Clover 1 [NFY]
Brimstone Moth
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Brown-tail
Cabbage Moth
Canary-shouldered Thorn
Cloaked Minor
Common Carpet
Common Rustic agg
Copper Underwing
Coronet
Dark Arches
Dark Umber
Double-striped Pug
Dun-bar
Dusky Sallow
Dusky Thorn
Dwarf Cream Wave
Flame Shoulder
Foxglove Pug
Garden Carpet
Grey Dagger
Iron Prominent
Jersey Tiger
Knot Grass
Large Yellow Underwing
Least Carpet 40+
Leopard Moth
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Lime-speck Pug
Maple Pug
Marbled Beauty  
Mouse Moth
Nutmeg 30+
Pale Prominent
Privet Hawk-moth
Riband Wave
Rosy Footman
Ruby Tiger
Rustic
Sallow Kitten
Scalloped Oak
Scarce Footman
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Silver Y
Spectacle
Straw Underwing
Swallow Prominent
Toadflax Brocade
Tree-lichen Beauty
Turnip Moth
Vine's Rustic
White-line Dart
Willow Beauty
Yarrow Pug
Yellow Shell
 
Micro Moths

Phyllonorycter trifasciella 1 [NFG]
Ypsolopha sylvella 1 [NFG]
Acentria ephemerella
Acleris variegana
Acrobasis advenella
Acrobasis suavella
Agapeta hamana
Agonopterix alstromeriana
Agonopterix heracliana sp
Agriphila geniculea
Agriphila straminella
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
Anarsia innoxiella
Argyrotaenia ljungiana
Blastobasis adustella
Bryotropha affinis
Bryotropha terrella
Bucculatrix sp [TBC]
Cameraria ohridella
Cataclysta lemnata
Catoptria falsella
Cacoecimorpha pronubana
Carcina quercana
Celypha striana
Chrysoteuchia culmella
Cnephasia sp
Coleophora alcyonipennella
Crambus perlella
Cydia pomonella
Ectoedemia heringella
Emmelina monodactyla
Endotricha flammealis
Epiphyas postvittana
Eudonia mercurella
Evergestis limbata
Evergestis forficalis
Galleria mellonella
Gelechia senticetella
Hofmannophila pseudospretella
Homoeosoma sinuella
Lozotaeniodes formosana
Metzneria metzneriella
Pleuroptya ruralis
Plutella xylostella
Pyrausta aurata
Recurvaria nanella
Sitochroa verticalis
Yponomeuta cag mal pad 20+
Yponomeuta rorrella 60+

Black Arches

Bucculatrix sp TBC

Cataclysta lemnata

Dog's Tooth

Marbled Clover

Phyllonorycter trifasciella

Rosy Footman

Ypsolopha sylvella


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:53

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