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
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Saturday 11 July 2015

Full to the brim

Last night I setup my trap ready for the weekly GMS night.
The trap was absolutely heaving this morning after the (not) forecast humid storm we had in the night albeit just one huge clap of thunder that shook the house and then torrential rain for around 10 minutes.
When I set up the trap my forecast said clear skies all night with lows of 12...how wrong they were, it was minimum 16 degrees, amazing what a bit of cloud cover does!

Highlights were my first ever Cypress Carpet sadly not in great condition and my second ever (previously seen in Cornwall) Tachystola acroxantha

Also a moth I see most other places but yet to be recorded in the garden until last night, a huge Large Emerald was on the wall of the house. It was so far up it was even out of reach of my net! 

Lots more micros to wade through yet, but 3 Athrips mouffetella were surprising having only ever seen one before.

With this continuous warm weather we are having, things seem to be emerging all at once. 

There were 12 Common Rustics in the trap last night, 6 Peppered Moths and a ridiculous count of 38 Common Footman.
Hawk-moths also have really increased with 4 Small Elephant, 2 Elephant, 2 Poplar and 2 Privet last night alone.
The number of new species for the garden this year grew by 24 last night alone!



Catch Report -  10/07/15 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

101 Species 57 Macro and 44 Micro

Macro Moths

1x Cypress Carpet [NEW!]
1x Large Emerald [NFG]
2x Scarce Footman [NFY]
1x Short-cloaked Moth [NFY]
1x Buff Footman [NFY]
1x Yellow-tail [NFY]
1x Scorched Carpet [NFY]
1x Broad-barred White [NFY]
1x Scalloped Oak [NFY]
2x Maple Prominent [NFY]
1x Maple Pug [NFY]
1x Foxglove Pug [NFY]
8x Mottled Beauty
2x Willow Beauty
1x Silver-Y
2x Beautiful Golden-Y
1x Least Carpet
3x Beautiful Hook-tip
1x Barred Straw
3x Treble Brown Spot
6x Peppered Moth
2x Light Emerald
1x Clay
10x Riband Wave
20x Uncertain
11x Dark Arches
5x Double Square-spot
8x Dot Moth
2x Dun-bar
4x Bright-line Brown-eye
4x Dwarf Cream Wave
10x Mottled Rustic
6x Swallow-tailed Moth
1x Haworth's Pug
3x Brimstone Moth
2x Smoky Wainscot
4x Small Elephant Hawk-moth
1x Privet Hawk-moth
2x Poplar Hawk-moth
1x Silver-ground Carpet
2x Blood-vein
5x Small Blood-vein
1x Rustic
2x Common Wainscot
1x Common Pug
38x Common Footman
4x Common Emerald
12x Common Rustic
15x Heart & Dart
2x Fan-foot
2x Common White Wave
7x Heart & Club
2x Buff-tip
1x Setaceous Hebrew Character
1x Fern
5x July Highflyer
2x Green Pug
3x Snout
  
Micro Moths

1x Tachystola acroxantha [NFG]
1x Argyresthia brockeella [NFG]
1x Coleophora trifolii [NFG]
2x Hypsopygia costalis [NFY]
2x Spilonota ocellana [NFY]
3x Athrips mouffetella [NFY]
1x Paraswammerdamia albicapitella [NFY]
1x Epermenia chaerophyllella [NFY]
1x Eucosma obumbratana [NFY]
1x Argyresthia goedartella [NFY]
1x Gypsonoma dealbana [NFY]
5x Acentria ephemerella [NFY]
2x Blastobasis lacticolella
24x Chrysoteuchia culmella
1x Cnephasia sp
1x Agapeta hamana
1x Acleris notana/ferrugana
3x Phlyctaenia coronata
5x Celypha lacunana
6x Celypga striana
1x Batia lunaris
2x Batia unitella
2x Aleimma loeflingiana
2x Emmelina monodactyla
1x Coleophora sp
4x Endotricha flammealis
1x Trachycera suavella
1x Clepsis consimilana
1x Argyresthia spinosella
2x Archips podana
1x Archips xylosteana
8x Eudonia lacustrata
1x Phycita roborella
4x Eurrhypara hortulata
3x Zeiraphera isertana
1x Pterophorus pentadactyla
10x Pammene regiana
2x Aphomia sociella
2x Udea prunalis
2x Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
1x Udea olivalis
5x Yponomeuta evonymella
1x Oegoconia sp
2x Pandemis heparana 

Eucosma obumbratana











Cypress Carpet










Large Emerald












Broad-barred White












Scarce and Buff Footman











Yellow-tail











Short-cloaked Moth













Tachystola acroxantha











Coleophora trifolii











Athrips mouffetella
 
 

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