Why are there so many moths? Funny videos and memes go viral as Bogong moths swarm NSW

NSW’s bogong moth invasion has officially reached the next stage: social media content.

After weeks of the endangered insects turning up in homes, cars, washing baskets and seemingly every outdoor light in the State, residents have begun documenting their unexpected new housemates on social media.

The moths have been particularly noticeable along the NSW coast, with large numbers reported from the South Coast, Sydney and right up to the Central Coast.

Conservationists have reason to welcome their return but not everyone is quite as happy.

TikTok and Instagram have been flooded with videos of residents attempting to evict moths, discovering them in increasingly bizarre places and accepting that, for the time being, their homes no longer belong entirely to them.

One video showed a woman confronting a huge collection of moths clinging to her glass sliding door.

“I’ve never been so overwhelmed in my life, this is terrifying, they are huge,” she said.

Others have turned the invasion into comedy, with memes and videos joking about the seemingly unavoidable insects appearing every time a door or window is opened.

One hilarious video shows a man reenacting a moth flying into a home after asking to “quickly come in for a second”.

“Me and my friends, we were migrating, we got lost. I need a place to stay, just me and the boys,” he says.

“But don’t even think about getting rid of us, we’re endangered.”

Instagram user zaqquak has even transformed Tyga’s Rack City into an ode to the invading insects.

But despite what some of the more dramatic videos might suggest, NSW has not suddenly developed a giant moth problem.

The insects are Bogong moths undertaking their annual spring migration towards the Australian Alps.

Each spring, the endangered moths migrate up to 1000km from breeding grounds in southern Queensland, central NSW and western Victoria to the alpine region, before making the return journey in autumn.

The Australian Museum says the moths can be blown towards the coast by westerly winds during their spring migration and can enter homes because they are attracted to light.

That helps explain why NSW residents are currently discovering them congregating around windows, outdoor lights and inside their homes.

The enormous numbers are particularly significant after Bogong moth populations suffered an estimated 99.5 per cent collapse.

The species was added to the IUCN Endangered Species list in December 2021, with threats including drought, extreme weather, climate change, light pollution, insecticides and habitat loss.

Zoos Victoria is urging people not to use insecticides and to switch off unnecessary outdoor lights at night during the migration period.

Artificial light can make it harder for the moths to navigate and draw them towards areas where they face threats from predators and insecticides.

For those who find the moths inside, turning off unnecessary lights and giving them an easy route back outside can help avoid attracting even more.

And while their sudden arrival may be testing the patience of some NSW residents, the moths have an important destination to reach.

Bogong moths are a crucial spring food source for the critically endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum, which wakes from its annual winter hibernation hungry for the insects.

Fewer than 2000 Mountain Pygmy-possums are believed to remain in the wild, making the moths’ arrival in the alpine region particularly important.

Anyone who spots a Bogong moth can photograph it and submit the sighting to Zoos Victoria’s Moth Tracker, helping scientists better understand their migration and how many make it to the mountains each year.