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, I have now removed commenting as the bots were starting to appear
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Monday, 13 November 2023

Two new garden species confirmed from mines

On Sunday I popped out in the garden to check the various small shrubs and trees for mines. I have a nice sized Field Maple bush, a Rose and saplings of Oak, White Poplar, Beech and Hawthorn.

I was very pleased to find several mines on both the Field Maple and Hawthorn (Bearing in mind the Hawthorn is but a twig, with only 40 or so leaves actually on it!). 

I posted the photo over to Leonard Cooper whom is far more knowledgeable on mines than I am, and he instantly confirmed Parornix anglicella on the Hawthorn and Stigmella aceris on the Field Maple, excellent!

 I've retained a bunch of box of the mines in a sealed container to see if they hatch out next spring.

 I also ran the trap last night and there were 10 moths of 7 species, better than nowt.
A rather smart dark-lined Mottled Umber was kept for a photo. 

Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 641 species
 
12/11/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths
 
Parornix anglicella 1 [NFG]
Stigmella aceris 1 [NFG]

Parornix anglicella

Parornix anglicella

Stigmella aceris

Stigmella aceris


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 19:42