Endangered bogong moths descend on homes across NSW

Residents in parts of New South Wales are finding their homes invaded by an unexpected guest: the endangered bogong moth. The sudden influx has seen hundreds of people reporting sightings, with many taking to social media to share their experiences.

Reina Hill, a resident of Batemans Bay, described being swarmed by thousands of the moths at her home since Friday. “I walked out my door and was hit in the face by thousands of them,” she said. “I swear there was millions of them layered on various areas under my deck, under my eaves and all around the windows.”

Moths on the move

The bogong moths are making their way to the NSW Alps to escape the summer heat, a journey that sees them travel hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres. Western Sydney University Entomologist Eleanor Drinkwater said it was pleasing to see the moths in such significant numbers. “The last few years we haven't seen so many bogong moths,” she said.

Dr Drinkwater emphasised that the moths are not trying to invade homes, but are simply migrating. “They're not trying to get into your house, they're just trying to migrate,” she said. “For some of these little individuals that people might see, they're going to be travelling hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres.”

A sign of hope for the endangered species

The large numbers of moths are a sign that something is going right, according to Dr Drinkwater. Bogong Watch Project manager at Invertebrates Australia Linnea Emneby said many people had forgotten what a migration looks like. “We have seen a decline in bogong moths this decade, which has changed people's perception of what a migration looks like,” she said. “It's just incredibly encouraging to see them actually bouncing back.”

Ms Emneby said there were several theories that might explain the phenomenon, including increased rainfall in northern parts of the state producing an abundance of food for larvae, or warmer weather causing flowers to bloom earlier than normal. However, she believed the moths had likely used recent north-westerly winds to travel to the alps. “Bogong moths are known to kind of hitch a ride on winds,” she said. “They're very small creatures and they travel vast distances.”

What to do if you have moths in your home

University of Sydney biologist Dieter Hochuli said the moths would be found hiding in crevices during the day to avoid predation by birds. “There's a lot of birds and mammals and everything that's going to want to eat them,” he said. Dr Drinkwater encouraged capturing and releasing the moths if they were stuck inside, or turning outside lights on and turning indoor lights off to draw them out of homes.

She also called for submissions of photos to iNaturalist and the Moth Tracker website to help researchers understand their migration. “This is a brilliant opportunity for us to learn more about what they're doing,” Dr Drinkwater said.