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

Friday, 1 August 2025

Last garden catch before a break

Previous to last night, I hadn't ran my trap since the 24th of July, a full week with no mothy action at all.

Last Thursday was quite a good night, but species and numbers were evidently tailing off as we come out of peak mothing season.

It was nice to get a Dog's Tooth, a regular moth here usually in early May, but missing out on the first brood this year.
A lovely fresh and early Acleris sparsana was nice to see, and a few more welcome small fry in the shape of Bryotropha domestica & Phyllonorycter trifasciella.
Another new species of grass moth was also present, clinging to an external egg tray, the first Agriphila tristella of the year. Amazingly I did not record this species last year in the garden.
 
6 new ones was pretty respectable for late July.
 
The next outing would be on the 31st. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 593 species

24/07/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Dog's Tooth 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Acleris sparsana 1 [NFY]
Agriphila tristella 1 [NFY]
Bryotropha domestica 1 [NFY]
Phyllonorycter trifasciella 1 [NFY]
Plutella porrectella 1 [NFY]

Plutella porrectella

Acleris sparsana

Agriphila tristella

Bryotropha domestica

Dog's Tooth

Least Yellow Underwing

Parapoynx stratiotata

Phyllonorycter trifasciella

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:48