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, 17 April 2026

Warm, slightly humid, dry, Moths!

It's not been too bad in my garden lately for variety, numbers are a little low but that is April in a nutshell here.

Wednesday night was a warm (minimums of 13 degrees) and a cloudy night, and very still compared to most of the year so far! 

A real mix of moths were present with both new macros and micros arriving.

Best moth was the tiny little Phyllonorycter corylifoliella (2nd garden record and last seen in 2022) Scrobipalpa acuminatella was runner-up, an annual visitor, the latter which I initially thought was a very early Monochroa species, until I got it under a hand lens and saw the orange flecks, this early, only Scrobipalpa acuminatella is viable.

All 3 new for year micro moths broke emergence records by upto 3 weeks! 

Another good night was on the cards last night including my 2nd field trip of the year.

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 77 species

15/04/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths 

Scorched Carpet 1 [NFY]
Shuttle-shaped Dart 2 [NFY]
Clouded Drab 3
Common Quaker 2
Double-striped Pug 5
Early Grey 1
Frosted Green 1
Oak-tree Pug 1
 
Micro Moths
 
Aphomia sociella 1 [NFY]
Phyllonorycter corylifoliella 1 [NFY]
Scrobipalpa acuminatella 1 [NFY]
Emmelina monodactyla 1
Epiphyas postvittana 3 
 
Shuttle-shaped Dart

Aphomia sociella

Phyllonorycter corylifoliella

Scorched Carpet

Scrobipalpa acuminatella

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:41