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

Sunday, 30 June 2024

Tuesday night trapping... warm!

Another warm day on Tuesday, with highs of 25 degrees and lows of 13 (still a bit on the cool side with a clear sky and moon for half the night)

Still, over 60 species were recorded once more, with 10 new additions.

The lures in the garden struck gold once more, with not one, but two Triaxomasia caprimulgella. Both came to the lure intended for the Lunar Hornet Moth, a known attractive scent for this species.

A second garden record of Psychoides verhuella was also very pleasing this time coming to the TIP lure (SAL lure previously)
 
An earlyish Dun-bar was a surprise, as were lovely fresh examples of  Recurvaria nanella, Eucosma conterminana & Ostrinia nubilalis.
A smaller  Phycitodes is almost certainly either saxicola/maritima, maritima has been recorded here before in 2022.
The macros included year first Blackneck (Despite living in the fens, not a common garden moth) and a stunning grey-hued Pine Hawk-moth.

Things got better and better as we headed into the mid-week peak of warmth.
 
Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 392 species
 
25/06/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 

Macro Moths

Blackneck 1 [NFY]
Dun-bar 1 [NFY]
Pine Hawk-moth 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Bucculatrix cidarella 1 [NFY]
Eucosma conterminana 1 [NFY]
Gypsonoma dealbana 1 [NFY]
Ostrinia nubilalis 2 [NFY]
Phycitodes saxicola/maritima 1 [NFY]
Recurvaria nanella 1 [NFY]
Triaxomasia caprimulgella 2 [NFY] (To LUN lure)  
Psychoides verhuella 1 (To TIP lure)

Blackneck

Cydia pomonella

Dun-bar

Eucosma conterminana

Gypsonoma dealbana

Ostrinia nubilalis

Phycitodes saxicola/maritima

Pine Hawk-moth

Recurvaria nanella

Scoparia basistrigalis

Triaxomasia caprimulgella

 

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:54