You’re Not Crazy, the Moths Have Invaded

You may have noticed an uptick in miller moths bouncing off your outside light bulbs or sneaking into your house when the door opens. Yep, it's that time of year again, and 2020 is seeing a bit of a jump in the number of these harmless, but annoying, butterfly cousins.

The miller moths are migrating and eating nectar from flowering plants. The moths are the adult stage of army cutworms. The cutworms grow in fields of crops planted in western Nebraska and Kansas, and eastern Colorado and Wyoming. When then grow into the moth stage they migrate to cooler temps in the Rocky Mountains. Leading to our Front Range invasion. And this year the crop of the dusty flappers is bigger than the last few.

After they summer in the mountains, the moths will sweep back through on their way to the fields of farm country in September.

While they are harmless, their droppings can stain surfaces. If you don't want to just leave moth-management to your cat, you can build a simple trap to get moths out of your house.

A simple trap can be constructed with a goose neck lamp placed over a small bucket that contains soapy water. The moths that fly around the trap will soon be caught in the water where they will drown. The dead moths can then be dumped outside. Application of insecticides are not recommended to control adult moths. - University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources