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, 5 September 2026

Super start to September

On the 2nd I ran my first trap for the month of September. 

I stayed up fairly late, and rose early enough to limit escapees. 74 species was the grand total. That must be a record for September here in my garden, I'm sure of it.

There were two new macro moths for the year making it the best year on record, species-wise at least, with 678 species logged so far in 2026.

The two new ones were Cypress Pug & Orange Sallow, the latter I missed out on last year.

Clancy's Rustic was back, with 3 coming to the trap overnight, not seen since mid-June. 

A second garden record of Crocidosema plebejana was most welcome, both from this year. 

Drinker was rather late, I don't see many in September.

Cooler nights were coming up, a real feeling of Autumn in the mornings. 

 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 678 species 
 
02/09/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 

Macro Moths

Cypress Pug 2 [NFY] 
Orange Sallow 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 
Blue Underwing 
Cabbage Moth 
Centre-barred Sallow 
Clancy's Rustic 
Delicate 
Double-striped Pug 
Drinker 
Dusky Thorn 
Flounced Rustic 
Frosted Orange
Garden Carpet 
Large Yellow Underwing 
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
L-album Wainscot 
Lime-speck Pug 
Mouse Moth 
Nutmeg
Pale Mottled Willow 
Pebble Hook-tip 
Setaceous Hebrew Character 
Shuttle-shaped Dart 
Silver Y 
Spectacle
Small Blood-vein 
Small Dusty Wave
Small Ranunculus 
Snout 
Straw Underwing 
Square-spot Rustic 
Tawny-speckled Pug 
Toadflax Pug 
Treble-bar 
Turnip Moth 
Vine's Rustic 
Yellow Shell 
White-point 
Willow Beauty 

Micro Moths

Achroia grisella 
Agriphila geniculea 
Agriphila tristella 
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 
Ancylosis oblitella 
Aproaerema anthyllidella 
Archips podana 
Cameraria ohridella 
Celypha lacunana 
Celypha striana 
Clavigesta purdeyi 
Crocidosema plebejana 
Cydalima perspectalis 
Cydia splendana 
Emmelina monodactyla 
Epiphyas postvittana 
Galleria mellonella 
Grapholita funebrana 
Hofmannophila pseudospretella 
Hypsopyqgia costalis 
Monopis crocicapitella 
Monopis weaverella 
Neocochylis atricapitana 
Neocochylis molliculana 
Nomophila noctuella 
Pandemis corylana 
Parapoynx stratiotata 
Paraswammerdamia nebulella 
Plutella xylostella 
Pyrausta aurata 
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 
Udea ferrugalis 
Yponomeuta evonynella

Orange Sallow

Achroia grisella

Aproaerema anthyllidella

Clancy's Rustic

Crocidosema plebejana

Cypress Pug

Drinker

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:55