Is it true that there is an “invasion” of moths in Santiago?

This Sunday around 21:30 hours in the commune of High Bridge, Cynthia lara She was putting her young son to bed in his crib, when something caught her attention.

“My mom called me because apparently she had a little bird caught between the window and the curtain. We were moving the curtain, because the noise I felt was loud, when it appears this giant moth to flutter everywhere. Until then we kept thinking it was like a baby hummingbird or something like that, because it was too big to be a moth “, he tells Qué Pasa.

“The only thing my mother managed to do – because I have a phobia – was to try to hit her with a towel. She did it many times because she was very fast, until she fell and we saw that it was a huge moth. Must have measured about 15 cm long. In fact, in the photo you can see that kind of ‘dust’ that they throw away. The bathroom was full of those fluff that cover the moths, “he adds.

“Some years ago, in our garden, we had come back from vacation and we saw some moths on the lemon tree. It occurred to my dad to wet the tree so that they would leave, and thousands came out. It was like a cloud of those that appear in the movies. We had to call so they will fumigate the patio”Says Lara.

The same thing counts to Qué Pasa Juan Vallejos placeholder image, from Providence, which on his Twitter account showed how a hundred of these insects pile up on your balcony. “It started three days ago, it’s very recent,” he says.

Both cases are only part of the “invasion” of moths that affects some sectors of Santiago. Just take a look at social media, where many warn about the presence of the insect in their homes -especially in the late afternoon-, and there are not a few who report how their pets enjoy them, having an impromptu banquet. But is this phenomenon so common?

“The generation of adult spring moths”Says Professor Tomislav Curkovic, an expert in entomology and academic at the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of the University of Chile. “In general, all organisms have cycles. In the case of insects, their cycle goes from egg, then a worm the larva that grows to become a chrysalis, and later reaches adulthood, which is its form more visible. And this happens every year because the cycles are always the same. The only difference is that sometimes there are more cycles, and others there are fewer. “

“What is happening now is that the adults of these more robust moths are emerging, and will happen again in the summer. Many of these moths have between one and three life cycles, which go from one to two months before their transformation into an adult, until two weeks after that, when they die. But it depends on the species. The largest moths have one cycle or generation per year, so we will not see them again until 2021 ”, he adds.

Curkovic indicates that insects develop depending on the heat. At higher temperatures, moths develop faster and vice versa. In cold times their development stops, and that’s why we don’t see them at that time. In warmer years the cycles accelerate, so it is possible that another month or two, depending on the heat, there will be another generation of moths.

“What happens is that not all moths are born at the same time. A period of two or three weeks of births passes, so between the beginning and the end, we will be seeing moths for a month. But they only live for a couple of weeks in nature, “says the expert.

The entomologist explains that moths are a part of the Lepidoptera, which includes moths and butterflies. Ensures that in Chile, there must be almost 1,500 species, including butterflies and wild moths, more than half of them being nocturnal moths. And of those that arrive at the houses, they are only about 20.

“All moths are herbivores, and 99% feed on plants, while the rest eat stored products and are considered pests. The moths that come to the houses and we see in the light bulbs come from outside. But there are others that are inside the houses, associated with food remains, and there they develop their cycles, especially in grains. In Chile there are three or four pests that are in homes. If someone lives near a park or a hill, many may come from there. They can fly up to a kilometer, or they can also come from nearby gardens ”, he says.

“In their juvenile stage they can be a problem, and in fact many moths in agriculture are considered pests, but they have an important role in nature. Adults, such as bees, they are pollinators. Many moths in their adult state are not harmful, and in Chile there is no harm, beyond people who are afraid of them because of their fluttering, and because they are somewhat clumsy ”, says the entomologist.

“There are many plants that open their flowers at night, and nocturnal moths are in charge of this process. And they are part of a network in which end up being food for other animals such as bats. They live, and allow to live”, He maintains.

Asked about some way to scare away moths or prevent them from entering homes, the expert points out that “as we know, they are attracted by light. The solution would be keep windows closed, or install mosquito nets. The insecticide does not make much sense because, in addition to being dangerous, it cannot be applied to ceilings, walls or floors, because they come from outside ”.

“The pantry moths are indoors, they are smaller and hatch around this time, but the large ones do not affect clothing or food. Still, it is best to have the sealed foods, since they can generate conditions for the fungal growth that they can harm a person. The best thing is to throw away the food, although the moth in itself is not harmful if we eat it ”.

Regarding the “dust” that they throw off if we take them by hand, Curkovic assures that “it is about ‘scales’, a kind of a wax that protects the moth, isolating it so that it does not lose moisture. It is not risky, although there are allergy sufferers ”.

What about pets? Curkovic points out that “in general, insects are considered a great source of protein, so they do not harm animals. Pets by instinct they eat what flies near them. Unlike flies or bees, moths have nothing to bite with nor are they vectors of disease. “