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 19 May 2024

Another great set of moths

Temperatures are still struggling at night here, averaging around 11c as the minimum and with mainly clear skies, it's still not quite happening with numbers.
 
Thankfully the moths have thought that they don't have a choice, and they must fly to find a mate and so new species are continuing to arrive here which is very pleasing in itself.
Two new macro moths were the stunning Alder Moth and the first of many Heart & Darts.
 
Before lights on, and as it was fairly calm and sunny I did a spot of netting. 8 species were netted in half an hour, and there were some goodies to be had.
A second suspected Pammene herrichiana, year first Bryotropha affinis (after netting 10's of basaltinella) and a garden first Lampronia morosa (with really odd pale markings on it)
I also netted a tiny Elachista which will need dissecting, one of about 3 possible with a transversal band, with it being worn on the edge, there's no hope of identification from just a photo.

All in all a cracking good night.
 
Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 199 species
 
15/05/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Alder Moth 1 [NFY]
Heart & Dart 1 [NFY]
Brindled Beauty 1
Buff-tip 1
Chinese Character 1
Common Pug 1
Common Swift 2
Coronet 1
Flame Carpet 1
Garden Carpet 1
Light Brocade 1
Lime-speck Pug 1
Marbled Minor 5
Nutmeg 1
Oak-tree Pug 1
Orange Footman 2
Pale Tussock 1
Poplar Hawk-moth 1
Ruby Tiger 2
Seraphim 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 7
Spectacle 1
Spruce Carpet 1
Treble Lines 5
Turnip Moth 1
Waved Umber 1
White Ermine 1
Willow Beauty 2

Micro Moths

Anania hortulata 1 [NFY]
Aphomia sociella 1 [NFY]
Bryotropha affinis 1 [NFY] (netted)
Carcina quercana 1 [NFY]
Coleophora alcyonipennella/frischella 1 [NFY]
Lampronia morosa 1 [NFG] (netted)
Nemapogon cloacella 1 [NFY] (netted)
Anthophila fabriciana 1 (netted)
Bryotropha basaltinella 2
Cochylis atricapitana 1
Dichrorampha plumbagana 2 (netted)
Elachista sp 1 (netted)
Epiphyas postvittana 4
Eudonia angustea 2
Evergestis forficalis 1
Pammene herrachiana 1 (netted)
Phyllonorycter leucographella 1 (netted)
Plutella xylostella 2
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 2

Alder Moth

Anania hortulata

Aphomia sociella

Bryotropha affinis

Carcina quercana

Coleophora alcyonipennella/frischella

Elachista sp TBC

Heart & Dart

Lampronia morosa

Pammene herrichiana?

Seraphim

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:06

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