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

Friday, 3 July 2026

Still catching up

A quieter night on the 28th of June, despite a warm day and a warm night, I say quieter.. there were still over 60 species present.
As the summer progresses, the new species for the year will inevitably slow down. Everything has been remarkably early with all this warm weather and Common Rustics and Tree-lichen Beauties have been on the wing already this year.
15 years ago these species were more associated with a mid to late July catch, peaking in August.
 
Highlights of the night included the Brown Plume, Stenoptilia pterodactyla, fairly scarce in my garden with only a couple of records.
Dark Spectacle is always nice to see, the scarcer of the two googly-eyed customers.
 
Oncocera semirubella was another uncommon visitor, sadly well past its best.
 
During the day a Six-belted Clearwing came to its own lure which was nice.
 
It has been a little quiet for Clearwings in my garden this year. 
 
The nights stayed warm right up until the 2nd of July, with a little blip the temperatures fell away so a night off was needed, back on it tonight though.
 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 549 species 
 
28/06/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
  
Dark Spectacle 1 [NFY]
Six-belted Clearwing 1 [NFY]
Small Rivulet 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Oncocera semirubella 1 [NFY]
Phyllonorycter geniculella 1 [NFY] 
Schoenobius gigantella 1 [NFY] 
Stenoptilia pterodactyla 1 [NFY] 
 
Stenoptilia pterodactyla

Dark Spectacle

Oncocera semirubella

Phyllonorycter geniculella

Schoenobius gigantella

Six-belted Clearwing

Small Rivulet

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:17