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

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Unsettled conditions do not phase the moths

Continuing the trend of excellent catches, Sunday night was no different. With a few showers here and there and temperatures not as warm as we have had recently it did not seem to put of the moths.
There were of course less individuals as I would expect on a slightly cooler and breezy night, but the amount of new species for the year surprised me once more.
The rarest moth of the night was a silky fresh Yponomeuta sedella easily seperated from similar shaped Yponomeuta's by the grey silky tinge.
My first record of this species was on the 19th of May 2010 in Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex so this is my first record for Hertfordshire. It appears to be quite scarce here with just 10 records up to 2006.
Amazingly four more garden firsts were found in the trap. They were an Acrobasis consociella (which took some time to id but on comparison with my other photos of this species from other places I came to an acceptable conclusion), Carpatolechia proximella, the  very distinct Rhodophaea formosa and another tricky one with similarities to other species Paraswammerdamia nebulella.
Macro's took a back seat for a change but with some fabulous species with annual appearances of Toadflax Brocade and Small Ranunculus.  
Dark Sword-grass was back after the '14 absence.
 
I could have done with a breather after all that lot, but it wasn't too be...it was field trip time! 
 


Catch Report -  13/07/15 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Toadflax Brocade [NFY]
1x Small Ranunculus [NFY]
1x Barred Straw [NFY]
1x Grey Dagger [NFY]
1x Small Ranunculus [NFY]
2x Large Arches [NFY]
1x Dark Sword-grass [NFY]
1x Small Fan-footed Wave [NFY]
7x Silver-Y
2x Cabbage Moth
5x Heart & Dart
5x Heart & Club
9x Dot Moth
2x Flame
1x Maple Prominent
1x Pale Mottled Willow
1x Beautiful Golden-Y
1x Buff Arches
1x Brown Rustic
20x Uncertain
1x Double-striped Pug
5x Peppered Moth
3x Scarce Footman
3x Scalloped Oak
1x Small Emerald
2x Smoky Wainscot
1x Buff Footman
1x Phoenix
2x Clay
2x Large Yellow Underwing
2x Flame Shoulder
  
Micro Moths

1x Yponomeuta sedella [NFG]
1x Carpatolechia proximella [NFG]
1x Acrobasis consociella [NFG]
1x Paraswammerdamia nebulella [NFG]
1x Rhodophaea formosa [NFG]
1x Euzophera pinguis [NFY]
2x Nomophila noctuella [NFY]
1x Lyonetia clerkella [NFY]
2x Pleuroptya ruralis [NFY]
1x Aphelia paleana [NFY]
1x Blastobasis adustella [NFY]
1x Carcina quercana [NFY]
1x Eudonia pallida [NFY]
1x Pammene fasciana [NFY]
2x Trachycera suavella
2x Spilonota ocellana
1x Blastodacna hellerella
3x Zeiraphera isertana
1x Plutella xylostella 
2x Emmelina monodactyla
2x Epiphyas postvittana
 
Yponomeuta sedella










Small Ranunculus













Toadflax Brocade











Rhodophaea formosa











Pammene fasciana










Eudonia pallida











Dark Sword-grass












Carpatolechia proximella











Acrobasis consociella











Paraswammerdamia nebulella

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