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, 3 June 2026

May, the month that keeps on giving!

May, the month that keeps on giving! 

And then June came along, less said about that the better (so far, but it is still early days).

I struck lucky last Friday night with not one, but two new species for the garden!!

A splendid Striped Hawk-moth was sitting proudly on the house wall behind my trap, a species I have seen many time abroad, from Portugal through to France and all the way to Turkey.
To get one in the garden was unbelievable. 
 
As if that wasn't enough, I also scored a Phtheochroa schreibersana, not only that but it was in really good condition and much better than the one I netted along the nearby hedgerows last year.
It's a species either making a comeback, or a genuine migrant, as there has been countless people recording it this year for the first time.
 
Back up new species included a tatty Goat Moth, and both Foxglove & Toadflax Pug.
 
A rather nicely marked Large Yellow Underwing was nice to see also.
 
Things didn't slow down just yet! 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 326 species 
 
29/05/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Foxglove Pug 1 [NFY] 
Goat Moth 1 [NFY]
Striped Hawk-moth 1 [NFG]
Toadflax Pug 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 
Phtheochroa schreibersana 1 [NFG]
 
Striped Hawk-moth

Toadflax Pug

Foxglove Pug

Goat Moth

Large Yellow Underwing

Phtheochroa schreibersana

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:56