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, 17 June 2026

The busy period

Peak mothing from now by the looks of it, and it doesn't get much better than this.

With no less than 71 species logged last night, including 22 species that were new for the year, and a bonus 23rd in the shape of a visiting Hummingbird Hawk-moth feeding from our Verbana  during late afternoon.

The tiny (but luckily) distinctive Elachista utonella, is new for the garden and moth sp no.937, the 2nd new species of Elachista to recorded this year. 

Two of the new macros I did not record last year (Ruddy Carpet and Single-dotted Wave). 

Micros certainly picked up with the muggy overnight conditions and included some rather scarce species such as Homoeosoma nebulella, Recurvaria nanella & Vitula biviella.

More of the same each night now I reckon, we'll see what new species turn up over the next few nights. 

 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 419 species 
 
16/06/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Dark Umber 1 [NFY]
Hummingbird Hawk-moth 1 [NFY] (daytime)
Lesser Yellow Underwing 4 [NFY]
Mottled Beauty 1 [NFY]
Ruddy Carpet 1 [NFY]
Single-dotted Wave 1 [NFY]
Southern Wainscot 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1 [NFY]
Anania perlucidalis 1 [NFY]
Argyresthia albistria 1 [NFY]
Batia lunaris 2 [NFY]
Elachista utonella 1 [NFG]
Endotricha flammealis 1 [NFY]
Epiblema foenella 1 [NFY]
Epinotia abbreviana 1 [NFY]
Ethmia dodecea 1 [NFY]
Gypsonoma aceriana 1 [NFY]
Homoeosoma nebulella 1 [NFY]
Marasmarcha lunaedactyla 1 [NFY]
Mompha ochraceella 2 [NFY]
Niditinea fuscella/striolella sp 1 [NFY]
Recurvaria nanella 1 [NFY]
Vitula biviella 1 [NFY]
 
Anania perlucidalis

Argyresthia albistria

Dark Umber

Elachista utonella

Epinotia abbreviana

Ethmia dodecea

Gypsonoma aceriana

Homoeosoma nebulella

Southern Wainscot

Vitula biviella

 
 
 
 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 22:41