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

Thursday, 5 June 2025

A changeable start to June

Strong winds have been the focus of the first few days of June, it hasn't been particularly cold (even at night) but it's been rocky, and the moths have gone quiet as a result. 
 
Sunday night was still very good though, with lows of 15 degrees and a warmish day.
 
A total of 13 new species were recorded overnight, an excellent tally which brings me 1 short of 300 species for the year.
 
There were good and interesting moths as well.
 
Varied Coronet was good to see, an annual visitor here, as was the quite common for here, Luquetia lobella.
 
I got half a Light Arches which looked rather funny bless it (i've since had a complete one), and a dark Hawthorn Moth (Scythropia crataegella) was noteworthy as most are bright white here.
 
Even darker still was a cracking sooty-coloured Heart & Club. I get a few of these jet black variants, could it be due to the peat rich soil here in the fens? Probably not, but it sounds good! 
 
5 species of Hawk-moth was pleasing as well, headed by 13 Elephant Hawk-moths. 
 
I continue to run the trap, but i'll have a break tonight as it's a bit wild out there. 
 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 299 species

31/05/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Beautiful Hook-tip 1 [NFY]
Clouded-bordered Brindle 1 [NFY]
Grey Pug 1 [NFY]
Light Arches 1 [NFY]
Pine Hawk-moth 1 [NFY]
Poplar Hawk-moth 1 [NFY]
Varied Coronet 1 [NFY]
Buff Ermine 1
Cinnabar 1
Clouded Silver 1
Common Pug 2
Common Swift 4
Common Wainscot 2
Double-striped Pug 1
Elephant Hawk-moth 13
Flame Shoulder 1
Green Carpet 1
Green Pug 1
Heart & Club 3
Heart & Dart 2
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Light Brocade 1
Light Emerald 1
Marbled Minor sp 5
Miller 1
Mottled Pug 1
Orange Footman 1
Pale Tussock 1
Peppered Moth 2
Privet Hawk-moth 1
Riband Wave 1
Rustic Shoulder-knot 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Small Elephant Hawk-moth 1
Sycamore 1
Turnip Moth 3
Vine's Rustic 1
V-pug 1
White Ermine 1
White-point 1
Willow Beauty 4

Micro Moths

Blastodacna hellerella 1 [NFY]
Chrysoteuchia culmella 1 [NFY]
Cydia fagiglandana 1 [NFY]
Cydia pomonella 1 [NFY]
Luquetia lobella 1 [NFY]
Scythropia crataegella 1 [NFY]
Aethes smeathmanniana 1
Celypha lacunana 1
Celypha striana 1
Epiphyas postvittana 3
Evergestis limbata 1
Neocochylis molliculana 3

Varied Coronet

Beautiful Hook-tip

Blastodacna hellerella

Clouded-bordered Brindle

Crambus pascuella

Cydia fagiglandana

Grey Pug

Heart & Club

Light Arches

Luquetia lobella

Pine Hawk-moth

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:22

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