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, 8 August 2026

A new species for Cambridgeshire!

I did my check of the lure bucket traps around the garden on Tuesday evening, it is getting a little late for any interest now with just Raspberry and Dusky most likely in this late period so I am not expecting much now.

There was nothing in any of them, until I got to the loranthi lure, intended for Synanthedon loranthi (A non-British species) I found a tiny (unfortunately) dead moth in the bottom.

Under a hand lens I could see it was a Tortrix species and looked close to a Cydia conicolana, but revisiting it later on in the day, it certainly appears to be Pammene juniperana, especially with the light yellow tiger stripes in-between the vertical metallic bands.

The moth appears to be new for Cambridgeshire and one I have certainly not seen before so very worth trying these different lures. A bit gutted it had already kicked the bucket.

In a week, all of the lures will go away in the freezer for next years use.

Stenoptilia zophodactylus was another surprise, keyed out to this species by the all white thoracic saddle and all white legs.

This species appears to have not been seen in the county for over 120 years! Most probably over-looked.

Apodia martinii was the third new species added to the site list

Three garden firsts was exceptional for August.

These were backed up by a year first Rosy Rustic which went missing in 2025.

Speaking of going missing, it seems like it will now be a two year absence for the Lesser Swallow Prominent in my garden and to any of my traps in the field. What has happened to this species locally over the last few years is unexplainable currently. A once common moth for me.

I also took a few pics of some more common moths. A Nutmeg.. one of around 500 this past week that have graced my trap.

Still warm ;l

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 644 species 
 
04/08/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths

Rosy Rustic 1 [NFY]
 
Micro Moths

Apodia martinii 1 [NFG]
Pammene juniperana 1 [NFG] 
 
Turnip Moth

Apodia martinii

Maiden's Blush

Nutmeg

Pammene juniperana

Rosy Rustic

Stenoptilia zophodactylus

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 16:17