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, 28 June 2026

Another bumper night for moths

Yet another warm night on Friday night, in fact the warmest night I've ever experienced.

When I got back from a field trip at 2:30am, it was still 24 degrees! Absolutely insane, and after a hot day of 36 degrees the traps out and home were heaving to say the least, with mainly micros.. o goody!

The trouble is, with such warm temperatures and high humidity, the moths are unbelievably active and hard to pot.

I did my best to go through my trap before dawn and shuffled myself to bed. 

The Rose Plume (Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla) was a welcome new addition to the garden list, probably drifting from nearby Chippenham or Wicken Fen, where they appear sporadically. 

Other highlights included a smart Rosy Minor, the first of many Yponomeuta rorrella, the last of the expected Yponomeuta species to arrive here, and a rather smartly coloured Oak Nycteoline, my third this year alone.

Things carried on warm until Sunday evening when things finally started to cool down, but an early hint of another heatwave a week from now! 

Only new for year species listed below.
 
 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 525 species 
 
26/06/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
  
Canary-shouldered Thorn 1 [NFY]
Common Rustic 1 [NFY]
Dingy Shears 1 [NFY] 
Maple Prominent 1 [NFY] 
Rosy Minor 1 [NFY] 
Tawny-barred Angle 1 [NFY]
White Satin 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla 1 [NFG]
Limnaecia phragmitella 1 [NFY]
Phtheochroa inopiana 1 [NFY]   
Ypsolopha scabrella 1 [NFY]
Yponomeuta rorrella 2 [NFY] 
 
Ypsolopha scabrella

Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla

Common Rustic

Limnaecia phragmitella

Maple Prominent

Oak Nycteoline

Phtheochroa inopiana

Rosy Minor

Tawny-barred Angle

Yponomeuta rorrella

 
 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:03