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 19 August 2015

A new moth for me greets me on my return

Hello all.
When I got home I was eager to set the trap up again and couldn't resist a look before I went to bed to see what had turned up.
I spotted an unfamiliar micro in the family Nemapogon.
Potted up and under the lens it turned out to be Nemapogon clematella a completely new moth for me and a really pretty surprise to welcome me home.
I see that it isn't a common moth for Herts with only a few records recently.


Two more new moths for the garden were also in the trap, a lovely Ear Moth and an equally pretty Sallow Kitten.

Other new moths for the year were Square-spotted Clays, over 20 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, Orange Swifts, Mouse Moth, Oak Hook-tip and Copper Underwing amongst others.

Small Phoenix was back after last year's absense.



Catch Report -  17/08/15 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

1x Ear Moth [NFG]
1x Sallow Kitten [NFG]
1x Coxcomb Prominent [NFY]
20x Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [NFY]
1x Small Waved Umber [NFY]
2x Copper Underwing [NFY]
1x Swallow Prominent [NFY]
2x Square-spotted Clay [NFY] 
1x Mouse Moth [NFY]
1x Oak Hook-tip [NFY]
1x Small Phoenix [NFY]
6x Orange Swift [NFY]
1x Flounced Rustic [NFY]
1x Nut-tree Tussock
8x Square-spot Rustic
1x Scarce Footman
1x Cabbage Moth
1x Dark Arches
1x Pale Mottled Willow
1x Tawny Speckled Pug
1x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
2x Large Yellow Underwing
1x Lesser Yellow Underwing
1x Silver Y 
1x Small Square-spot
5x Common Rustic
3x Straw Underwing
6x Setaceous Hebrew Character
2x Flame Shoulder 
1x Scalloped Oak
2x Spectacle
1x Magpie Moth
1x Dingy Footman
5x Brimstone Moth
1x Dun-bar
1x Marbled Beauty
2x Riband Wave
2x Maple Pug
4x Vine's Rustic
25x Willow Beauty
1x Black Arches

Micro Moths

1x Nemapogon clematella [NEW!]
7x Agriphila tristella [NFY]
1x Bucculatrix ulmella [NFY]
1x Phyllonorycter harrisella [NFY]
3x Epiphyas postvittana
5x Blastobasis adustella
3x Pandemis corylana
5x Pleuroptya ruralis
2x Agriphila straminella
2x Spilonota ocellana
2x Evergestis forficalis
2x Eudonia mercurella
1x Cnephasia sp
1x Cochylimorpha straminea
1x Plutella xylostella
2x Bryotropha terrella
1x Acleris forsskaleana
1x Pyrausta aurata
1x Emmelina monodactyla
1x Chrysoteuchia culmella

Ear Moth










Nemapogon clematella










Sallow Kitten











Bucculatrix ulmella










Oak Hook-tip











Square-spotted Clay

1 comment:

  1. Nice! Still never seen any of the Ear Moths and only had Square-spotted Clay in the garden once!

    ReplyDelete