Expect an abundance of miller moths this year, say CSU entomologists

If the swarms of flying insects infiltrating doorways, backyards and gardens the last few weeks are any indication, miller moth season in Colorado is here.

An adult army cutworm, or miller moth. Photo credit: Whitney Cranshaw/Colorado State University

Following four straight years of below-average numbers for the winged creatures, the insect should be noticeably more abundant in 2020, according to Colorado State University entomologists Whitney Cranshaw and Frank Peairs, both professors in the Department of Agricultural Biology and CSU Extension specialists.

“Flights of the moths crossing through into eastern Colorado on their annual migration to the mountains first became noticeable the first few days of May, much earlier than 2019, when noticeable numbers were first observed in late May,” the insect experts write in a fact sheet for CSU Extension.