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

Saturday, 26 July 2025

Time to catch up as trapping halts

Currently having our garden renovated so no trapping for the forseeable, although i'll be do a few field trips over the coming week, it'll allow some much needed downtime after a frantic few months.
 
Last Thursday was an average catch here for the time of year, lots of browns and creams, underwings and wainscots was the order of the day. 
 
There were however some interesting moths to log down.
 
In the daytime I recorded my first Gypsy Moth, bombing around the garden. A quick scrap in the back of the net and he was in the fridge for a photo.
 
This past week or so they've been coming to the trap in 2's and 3's, and out and about working they are a regular sight every single day. 
 
A Plumed Fan-foot was good to see, an increasing species in the south and east year on year, this is my 2nd garden record. 
And a lovely coloured Pyrausta purpuralis was a change from the umpteen aurata i've recorded this year. 
 
The best micro was the huge Dioryctria sylvestrella, a massive pyralid that is cuncommon here. 

The macro Small Rufous exploded on the scene last week, with 3 on the first recorded night of this year, subsequently it's increased every night, and out last night over the 4 traps locally, I recorded well over 100. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 573 species

17/07/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Gypsy Moth 1 [NFY]
Plumed Fan-foot 1 [NFY]
Small Rivulet 1 [NFY]
Small Rufous 3 [NFY]

Micro Moths 

Dioryctria sylvestrella 1 [NFY]
Pyrausta purpuralis 1 [NFY]

Small Rufous

Dioryctria sylvestrella

Gypsy Moth

Plumed Fan-foot

Pyrausta purpuralis

Small Rivulet

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 14:58