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

Thursday, 4 June 2026

Peak mothing May

The trap was still busy come last weekend, less numbers but the species were still racking up!

Two new macros, but 7 new micros, shows how much the smaller moths like these warmer and calmer conditions.

I was busy potting up some quality local species such as Sciota adelphella and Aethes beatricella, then checking all of the Ephestia spercies that were dotted around the house wall behind the trap, I noticed a smaller specimen, so quickly potted it up and got my hand lens out.
No... it can't be. Looking closely at it dorsally, the moth matches the imago of a moth I took new for Britain back in 2021, Euzopherodes vapidella.
The specimen I took came to my actinic trap where I worked at a town cemetery, the origin was never conclusive, but it was noted at the time that there were several open fresh food vendors in the area that were selling various exotic fruits.
 
Now, this area is 37 miles away from my garden. If it does turn out to be a second example of this species then I will be ecstatic to say the least.
 
I will be hopefully getting it dissected by Colin Plant this weekend. 
 
 
 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 335 species 
 
30/05/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Barred Yellow 1 [NFY] 
Small Square-spot 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 
Aethes beatricella 1 [NFY]
Coleophora alcyonipennella/frischella 1 [NFY]
Euzophera pinguis 1 [NFY]
Neocochylis hybridella 1 [NFY]
Pterophorus pentadactyla 1 [NFY]
Sciota adelphella 1 [NFY]
Tortrix viridana 1 [NFY] 
Ephestia sp TBC
 
TBC

Aethes beatricella

Coleophora alcyonipennella/frischella

Euzophera pinguis

Neocochylis hybridella

Pterophorus pentadactyla

Sciota adelphella

Small Square-spot

 
 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:45