Linda McMulkin, horticulture coordinator for Colorado State University Extension of Pueblo County, said the spring moth population usually experiences a wild population explosion only after a wet summer and fall that's followed by a mild winter.I've been seeing more of those smaller, tan moths that normally invade in May. Should look them up in the insect field guide.
It's been bone dry in these parts for some time, but the mild winter and earlier spring temperatures may have allowed more of last fall's eggs to survive and take flight in search of a sweet buffet . . . . What can miller-hating humans do about the flitty, nasty creatures? Not much.
Update, May 5, 2012: Revenge of the moths.
The moths showed up, but I haven't seen the swifts or swallows yet, whatever the birds are that dive bomb the moths at road intersections during stoplights. I wonder what the story is behind that?
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering as well. Is it that the moths have come earlier and/or the swallows later, or has something happened to the swallow population?
ReplyDeleteCOLib: I wondered the same thing. I sat out at dusk yesterday wandering why I saw no bats with all these moths staggering through the air.
ReplyDeleteThere was a poor-will calling, though. Maybe it ate some moths.