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

Saturday, 11 July 2026

A HUGE Haul

With highs of 32 degrees on Wednesday and lows of just under 20 degrees (19.8c at just after 4am) it was one of the top 3 warmest nights of the year!

Subsequently the moths were absolutely heaving in the garden, although it was fairly slow to get going as it was still fairly light at half 10, owing to the clear sky.

Over 100 species were observed up until midnight and again when I arose at 3am. 

Highlights were as follows.

Endothenia ericetana - A new garden moth and probably expected at some point, as I have recorded them locally at the fens, a very nondescript species and very similar to quadrimaculana, a little smaller though with less pronounced markings.

Acrobasis tumidana - A suspected migrant moth, this being my 3rd garden record over the years. Easily missed bleary-eyed, but once under a hand lens or through a macro lens, those raised scale tufts become apparent. 

Depressaria chaerophylli - The second Depressaria species this week (After taking a suspected douglasella/pulcherrimella beforehand). A well-marked individual, just about sporting that rusty edge to the first part of the leading edge of the forewings.

Besides the quality micros, there were some great larger moths as well, including Dark Spinach, Dewick's & Webb's Wainscot.

That lot plus a further 9 new for year species, brought me over the 600 species mark for the year, unprecedented. To put this into perspective, I was on 540 species this time last year.

Trapping continues as the nights stay mild, if a little breezy here in fenland. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 602 species 
 
08/07/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
  
Dark Spinach 1 [NFY]
Dewick's Plusia 1 [NFY] 
Dingy Footman 1 [NFY] 
Gypsy Moth 1 [NFY]
Lesser-spotted Pinion 2 [NFY] 
Webb's Wainscot 1 [NFY]
 
Micro Moths

Acrobasis tumidana 1 [NFY]
Argyresthia goedartella 1 [NFY]
Bucculatrix thoracella 2 [NFY] 
Calamotropha paludella 1 [NFY] 
Cydia inquinatana 1 [NFY] 
Depressaria chaerophylli 1 [NFY] 
Endothenia ericetana 1 [NFG] 
Phyllonorycter maestingella 1 [NFY] 
Zelleria hepariella 1 [NFY] 
 
Acrobasis tumidana

Argyresthia goedartella

Bucculatrix thoracella

Cydia inquinatana

Dark Spinach

Depressaria chaerophylli

Dewick's Plusia

Dingy Footman

Endothenia ericetana

Gypsy Moth

Webb's Wainscot

Zelleria hepariella

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:26