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

Saturday 16 March 2024

WOW! A new moth for my records

Last night, I could not believe my eyes when I stepped out at around 9pm, a cracking Small Eggar was sitting on the white ground sheet around the trap, luckily I spotted it as I may have trodden on it! 

Even better, it's not only the first one i've ever seen, bur it's a rarely seen (in the wild) Female. Even Male's are rare to traps.
From the records available to me, the easiest way to still find these, is in the silken webs that the caterpillars spin within Hawthorn thickets.

Other moths of note this week were another lovely Oak Beauty, and a new for year Brindled Beauty. 
 
Hebrew Characters are my most commonest species currently, with Common Quaker a close second. A garden record 18 Hebrew Characters were recorded on the 13th.

Pammene giganteana are busy today with several to the MOL lure, and i've had the EMP lure out for the Emperor Moth, warm in the sunshine but a shade early I feel.
 
Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 38 species
 
13/03/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Clouded Drab 4
Common Quaker 6
Early Grey 1
Hebrew Character 18
March Moth 1
Oak Beauty 1
 
Micro Moths
 
Agonopterix alstromeriana 2
Agonopterix heracliana 1 
Emmelina monodactyla 1


15/03/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Brindled Beauty 1 [NFY]
Small Eggar 1 [NEW!]
Common Quaker 7
Early Grey 1
Hebrew Character 6
March Moth 1
Small Quaker 1
 
Micro Moths
 
Agonopterix alstromeriana 5
Diurnea fagella 1
Emmelina monodactyla 1 
 
Oak Beauty

Brindled Beauty

Diurnea fagella

Small Eggar

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 14:31

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)