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

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Early May Sunny Days

Saturday was a lovely warm day, if a bit breezy at times (as we found out when we went fishing)

The night was once again clear, but it didn't drop as much this time, as we imported some milder air from the continent on a South-easterly air flow, still not stellar but it stayed around 10 degrees all night. 

A great array of moths were attracted to the lights overnight, it being far too breezy to bother netting at dusk.

The first specimens of sometimes the most common moths, are always special to me. Take the uber abundant Heart & Dart as an example, the year first had a lovely purple/red hue along the edge of its wings, and barely a scale out of place. 

Best moth for me was the apple loving tiny, Callisto denticulella (Aptly named the Apple Nymph) nearly an annual moth here, dipping on one last year.

My second favourite was again, one of the common pugs in my garden, the Lime-speck Pug.
Again, another super fresh moth and worthy of it's portrait.
 
We had warm days on Sunday/Monday and the trap was busier, although a cooler day today, I wonder what tonight will bring.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 183 species

10/05/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Heart & Dart 1 [NFY]
Lime-speck Pug 1 [NFY] 
Chinese Character 2
Common Pug 3
Common Wainscot 1
Coronet 1
Garden Carpet 3
Grey Pine Carpet 1
Latticed Heath 1
Least Black Arches 1
Muslin Moth 2
Puss Moth 1 
Shuttle-shaped Dart 2
Waved Umber 1
Yellow-barred Brindle 1


Micro Moths 

Callisto denticulella 1 [NFY]
Celypha striana 1 [NFY]
Prays fraxinella/ruficeps 1 [NFY]
Cameraria ohridella 1
Cochylis atricapitana 1
Epiphyas postvittana 3
Mompha subbistrigella 1
Neocochylis dubitana 2
Parornix sp 1
Platyedra subcinerea 1
Plutella xylostella 1
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1

Prays fraxinella/ruficeps

Callisto denticulella

Celypha striana

Heart & Dart

Least Black Arches

Lime-speck Pug

Neocochylis dubitana

 

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 15:29

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