Arabic version: الإبلاغ عن أسراب من عثّ بوغونغ في منازل أنحاء نيو ساوث ويلز

According to ABC News, swarms of endangered bogong moths are being reported across NSW as the insects make their annual migration to the Snowy Mountains. About 800 sightings have been logged on iNaturalist since Friday, including more than 200 in the past 24 hours.

Batemans Bay resident Reina Hill said moths had swarmed her home since Friday, covering areas beneath her deck and eaves and around windows. The peanut-sized moths migrate to the NSW Alps each year to escape summer heat before returning to inland breeding grounds in autumn.

Western Sydney University entomologist Eleanor Drinkwater said it was pleasing to see the moths in significant numbers after fewer had been seen in recent years. She said they were heading towards high country around Mount Kosciuszko and were not trying to enter homes, but migrating over potentially hundreds or thousands of kilometres.

Researchers have suggested increased rainfall in northern NSW may have created more food for larvae, while warmer conditions could have prompted earlier flowering of plants that attract moths. Bogong Watch Project manager Linnea Emneby also said recent north-westerly winds may have helped the insects travel south.

The species’ population has declined since the 1980s, with numbers crashing by as much as 99.5 per cent in 2017. It was listed as endangered in 2021. Researchers from Invertebrates Australia are asking people who see the moths to log sightings on iNaturalist, while Dr Drinkwater encouraged people to capture and release moths trapped indoors or use outdoor lights to draw them outside.