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

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Things went a bit mad

Starting to fall behind now! 

This catch was from Sunday night and featured over 60 species in total, probably more, but from now on it is nigh on impossible counting every single moth, occasionally I will do a full species count, but not this week! 

Some really nice species are now on the wing and fairly early as well.

Crackers like the colourful Cream-bordered Green Pea was my favourite, what an exquisite name and fully apt indeed!
 
Wood Carpet was a nice early surprise, a less than annual moth here which usually flies between mid-June and September! I have never caught this species before Common Carpet (Though only just as I have since caught a Common Carpet last night). 
 
The first of the stunning Elephant Hawk-moths turned up. It was extremely flighty straight out of the fridge and allowed me to take a few shots before zooming skywards.
 
On the micro moth front Ectoedemia albifasciella was a new tiny moth species for the garden, very similar to subbimaculella but with differences in visible markings.
 
One Minor was dissected to reveal Rufous Minor, all others were Marbled the other night. 
 
A probable Nemapogon variatella is also another new species for the garden, taken to the API Clearwing lure (Intended for Six-belted Clearwing) overnight. It looks spot on for it with its bright white head, sadly a little squished fumbling with a pot, retained.
 
Things get busier going forwards... 
 
 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 267 species 
 
24/05/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Cream-bordered Green Pea 1 [NFY]
Elephant Hawk-moth 1 [NFY]
Maiden's Blush 1 [NFY]
White-spotted Pug1 [NFY]
Wood Carpet 1 [NFY]


Micro Moths

Anania hortulata 1 [NFY]
Clepsis consimilana 1 [NFY]
Cochylimorpha straminea 1 [NFY]
Ectoedemia albifasciella 1 [NFG]
Elachista maculicerusella 1 [NFY]
Ethmia quadrillella 1 [NFY]
Nemapogon variatella to API Lure 1 [NFG]
Tinea pellionella 1 [NFY] 
 
Wood Carpet

Anania hortulata

Clepsis consimilana

Cochylimorpha straminea

Cream-bordered Green Pea

Ectoedemia albifasciella

Elachista maculicerusella

Elephant Hawk-moth

Maiden's Blush

Tinea pellionella

 
 
 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:30