DENVER — We already had a lot to worry about in 2020, and a forecast that called for an abundance of miller moths in Colorado was not necessarily welcome news for anyone (except for the type of people who somehow like these terrifying, randomly flying insects banging into their lamps).
With the advent of vaccines, there’s a lot to look forward to in 2021, and it looks like miller moths have also gotten the memo that it just wouldn't be cool to kill the overall aesthetic that we're going for this summer.
The latest forecast from Colorado State University says that nuisance problems (the only way to refer to moths) in 2021 “will be substantially less than the previous year.”
OK that’s good news. The bad news? It will happen later.
Here's a brief unpacking of the moth situation, and it begins with this: spring 2020 was already setting the tone for what would be a hot and miserable summer, and part of what made it so miserable were all the freakin' moths flying around.
Spring 2021 has been much wetter, and that means there will be more blossoming flowers, which is what the moths are looking for when they make their annual migration from the Great Plains to higher elevations (even though lamps are still their favorite thing).
Since the moths have more flowers to choose from, their presence will be less noticeable than in 2020, when social distancing was made difficult by the lack of blossom real estate (there’s a parallel to the situation in Denver to be made here, but let's focus on the moth news at hand).
Now, let’s get back to the bad news part of the moth forecast.
Since there was plenty of moisture this spring, the moths will be putting off their mountain vacation for about two weeks, meaning the situation will likely peak in mid-June and could be noticeable into the end of the month.
That's fine because again: there will be less of them than in 2020, according to CSU's researchers.
Since I, the author of this article, am terrified of miller moths, I don't particularly want to scroll through this so close to bedtime, but click here if you would like to learn more about these creatures.
But seriously moths: thanks for making 2021 the opposite of a "moth girl summer."
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