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, 13 July 2025

From the garden moth trap

On the first of July, the trap was absolutely buzzing with insect life of all kinds, moths included.
With highs of 30 degrees and the temperature still 22 degrees at midnight, it was a very muggy night indeed.
The garden must have done over 100 species, a record number of times this has happened this year, but tiredness prevailed and just listing the new species was enough. 
 
Photographing moths in the heat is extremely hard, the hardest challenge of all. 
  
3 new species of micro moth were new for the garden! 
 
They were... 
 
Anacampsis blattariella/populella expected eventually. Specimen wasn't retained as it made a bid for freedom, so i'll have to aggregate it.
 
Aproaerema taeniolella, the only one of three similar species that can be differentiated by the white line underneath it's forewings, i've had the other pair before.
 
Pammene aurita, a surprise to the LUN lure (inteneded for the Lunar Hornet Moth) overnight. Still no Lunar Hornet Moth which is a shame, i'll carry on trying for the remainer of July.
 
Dewick's Plusia & Maiden's Blush returned 
 
A small dark Pug species was retained. 
 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 524 species

01/07/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet 1 [NFY]
Dingy Footman 1 [NFY]
Dusky Thorn 1 [NFY]
Mere Wainscot 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Acrobasis repandana 1 [NFY]
Anacampsis blattariella/populella 1 [NFG]
Aproaerema taeniolella 1 [NFG]
Pammene aurita 1 [NFG] (To LUN Lure)
Pammene regiana 1 [NFY]
Rhyacionia buoliana 1 [NFY]

White-spotted Pug

Acrobasis repandana

Acrobasis suavella

Anacampsis blattariella populella

Aproaerema taeniolella

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet

Dewick's Plusia

Dingy Footman

Dusky Thorn

Pammene aurita

Pammene regiana

Rosy Minor

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:18