Winter moths

[urbpan]

It got cold, then it got warm again. That seemed to be the recipe for the winter moths to emerge and cluster around every porch light and drift across every street like dirty little fall leaves. At the time that I took this picture I counted 85-90 males. The females are essentially wingless--Alexis found one or two of them but I wasn't looking as closely. A friend who worked for the state in invasive species research/education/control went out to her porch light and deliberately killed all the females and mating pairs she could find. She said by her estimation there were fewer this year than last year.

Comments

[athgarvan.livejournal.com]

Lovely picture and interesting detail. Thanks

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thank you kindly

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a really cool, kind of spooky photo.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks much!

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

What harm do they do? Are these the kind that eat clothes?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

No these are strictly outdoor moths (unless they get in, then they die harmlessly). Their larvae appear in early spring and cause damage to trees and other plants.

[callipygian80.livejournal.com]

So it's not weird to see moths at our windows this time of year? There are ones that live in the winter?

Speaking of moths, I've been tearing my hear out over grain moths. I'm doing my best to eliminate food sources, but short of never ever keeping any food in our cabinets, it's been tough. Do they die off in the winter, or does it make no difference inside a house?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

It's weird in that it's an alien invasive species that's becoming more prevalent, but as they spread it will start to seem normal.

Grain moths won't be much affected by winter--they don't live outside really, they only live indoors in stored products. The best way to stop the infestation is to store all vulnerable foods in the freezer, or in air-tight containers. We store all our rice in the freezer, for example. Grain moths can get into "sealed" cardboard food boxes.

The worst sources of infestation are bird seed and pet food, since they are not subject to the same rigorous food safety as human food. Also bulk food from food co-ops can be a source.

Good luck!

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

They also love, love, love chocolate.

I had heard about the bulk food thing. Thanks for confirming. I haven't had an issue with grain moths since I no longer have dry cat food in the house.

I found that decanting food (cereal/pasta/chocolate) into plastic/glass storage containers with tightly sealing lids helped. Also, cleaning everything off the shelves and wiping them down with a liquid bleach solution helped. (Their eggs are tiny and can get into the smallest spaces.) Those triangular pantry moth traps did work too.

[callipygian80.livejournal.com]

Rice in the freezer, good idea! I keep the bird seed in the non-heated garage, but in a covered plastic bin for pouring. Hopefully that deters critters somewhat...

[goremeister-666.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for posting that. I was so puzzled by the dozens of moths that were crawling all over our door and front porch light. I thought it was for sure that the freak weather was 'waking up the moths' who thought that it was spring. If I had known that they were an invasive species I would have gone genocidal on their ass.