Large moths in small spaces.

[Jim Taylor]

I have been waiting for someone to  come up with the obvious and short-term
answer - and it appears it is not forthcoming.   BEFORE you chinked the
doors and windows and any other apertures - the  millers were already there.
I catch on a black-lighted sheet on  my front porch (much to my wife's
dismay) and kill inside.  I lose a moth before the killing bottle on
occasion - and they stay alive inside for about two eons.

You might try "bombing" your place with an insecticide first and then making
it moth-proof. Bet no millers make it through.

Jim Taylor
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Walker <mwalker at aisvt.bfg.com>
To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: Monday, July 06, 1998 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: Large moths in small spaces.


>
>
>Leo wrote:
>
>>I am curious about how large moths apparently manage to get through
>>small spaces.
>>
>>I live in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado where each summer we
>>are visited by a multitude of moths locally known as "Millers".  Don't
>>know whether they migrate in, or they are born here, and that would be
>>another interesting question.
>>
>>Of great interest to me -- and of great unhappiness to many others -- is
>>this moth's apparent ability to either fly through building materials
>>such as wood, and glass, or Houdini like, to squeeze themselves through
>>spaces considerably smaller than themselves.
>>
>>I have done a lot of experimentation in my home by carefully closing off
>>all 'known' entry sources, yet this creature, much larger that many
>>other smaller insects who can't find a way in, manage to come in almost
>>at will.
>>
>>Is there any reason to think that they have particular abilities to
>>enter places where other insects are prohibited?
>>
>>I would appreciate any thoughts.
>
>
>Hmmmm.  I'll add to Eric Metzler's off-the-cuff comments.  First of all,
why
>are these moths referred to as Millers?  Sounds like they might be able to
>bore into wood as larvae.  Secondly, and this is just an extension of the
>first point, is there any reason to question whether they are in fact
>entering as larvae and pupating indoors?  My problem with the idea that the
>moth is squeezing indoors as an adult is that this doesn't seem to fit
their
>design (relatively flat as they may be).  Still, if they really wanted to
>get in, they wouldn't need much of an opening.
>
>Now would be a good time for someone with some real insight to step in...
>
>Mark Walker
>Castleton, VT
>