Only in Your State | New Mexico | May 19, 2020 by Monica Spencer | Revised by Jaymi Firestone

If you’ve spent any amount of time on your porch this month, you may have noticed one insect has dramatically announced its appearance in recent weeks. New Mexico has been overrun by these fluttering little creatures.

Millions of moths — Miller moths, that is — have emerged from hibernation this month, much to the dismay of New Mexicans everywhere.

Clouds of these insects have been spotted around the state. And when we say clouds, we mean clouds.

YouTube content creator ValenZero posted a video that was taken by the East Mountains and is the perfect reminder to shut off your porch lights at night.

You can watch the original video at this link.

Miller moths, also called army cutworms, range in color from gray to brown and are relatively small insects normally. They look like your typical run-of-the-mill moth, because they are. Miller just refers to the moths that abundantly appear in and around people’s homes, where they buzz relentlessly around patio lights and inside window blinds. They send mottephobes – those who fear moths – running for cover each spring.

These powdery little bugs hibernate in the winter months, and emerge in late April or early May to feed off of flowers, mate, and eventually migrate to mountainous regions. “During warm months the Miller moths migrate to higher elevations as they seek flowering plants. Areas close to the mountains receive moths that may have migrated well over a hundred miles en route to summer feeding sites,” (Mountain Home AFB).

Miller Moths are actually the adult to the army cutworm, which is a caterpillar that feeds largely on crops. It’s no wonder these annoying insects have infested areas near farmland more than any others.

John Formby, a forest health program manager, told the Santa Fe New Mexican, that the state currently has the perfect conditions for all these insects to emerge at once.

New Mexico was blessed with more rain and snow in 2019 than past years, but when combining that with our higher summer-like temperatures this spring, it’s created the ideal conditions for the cutworms to emerge from hibernating.

The “flight,” a nuisance for people trying to sleep against the fluttering sound or attempting to move outside their homes without objects flying into their faces and hair, is turning out to be our biggest outbreak in YEARS.

Thankfully, these particular insects are more of a nuisance than destructive.

Miller moths may manage to find their way into your house or car or even give you a good fright on your porch one night, but they won’t eat up your winter sweaters or destroy your plants in droves. They do look positively scary in hordes at night though.

You can also rest assured that they won’t be here forever.

For the next few weeks, Miller moths will eventually begin migrating for higher elevations and to the east into Texas, Oklahoma, and other nearby states.

Have you seen these moths? How do you deal with them?

Resources:

https://www.mountainhome.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/309544/swarms-of-miller-moths-flutter-in-to-bug-mountain-home-afb/

https://azdailysun.com/attack-of-the-miller-moths/article_de66bd68-f2b4-5fa4-8480-eafdd56002f0.html