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

Monday, 1 June 2026

The best May ever

Another massive haul on Thursday night.

I asked the good wife to plug in my trap, as I was out in the field, and when I returned the trap was humming, quite literally with plenty of Cockchafers crashing around the patio.

I'm glad I left plenty of pots by the back door, because I needed them. 

20 new species was unbelievable for the time of year and included 1 new garden moth, the fen speciality Brachmia inornatella, a moth I expected to record sooner or later as it is a common moth at my local fen. 

Bedstraw Hawk-moth was a clear winner, my 2nd record for here and last seen in 2023. 

Agriphila straminella was a bit of a shock, I always associate this species with the month of July, so to squeak a record into May was rather eye-watering.

The new Currant Clearwing lure worked within a few hours and attracted 14 examples of the target species! A very common moth locally it would seem.

Warm days and warm nights continued towards the weekend. 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 321 species 
 
28/05/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Barred Straw 1 [NFY] 
Bedstraw Hawk-moth 1 [NFY]
Brown Rustic 1 [NFY]
Currant Clearwing 1 [NFY] (To Lure) 
Leopard Moth 1 [NFY]
Marbled Coronet 1 [NFY]
Pebble Hook-tip 1 [NFY]
Sandy Carpet 1 [NFY]
Scorched Wing 1 [NFY]
Uncertain 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 
Agriphila straminella 1 [NFY]
Anania coronata 1 [NFY] 
Anarsia innoxiella 1 [NFY]
Brachmia inornatella 1 [NFG] 
Cochylidia implicitana 1 [NFY] 
Coleophora mayrella 1 [NFY] 
Elachista stabilella 1 [NFY] 
Eudonia pallida 1 [NFY] 
Parapoynx stratiotata 1 [NFY] 
Scythropia crataegella 1 [NFY]
 
 
Scorched Wing

Sandy Carpet

Parapoynx stratiotata

Marbled Coronet

Currant Clearwing

Brachmia inornatella

Bedstraw Hawk-moth

Anarsia innoxiella

Anania coronata

Agriphila straminella

Uncertain

 
 
 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:16