It's Miller Moth Time Now Along The Front Range

DENVER (CBS4) - The summer heat will not only melt the snow, but also bring out the moths. Many residents on the Front Range have been seeing more miller moths right now.

Experts say it won't be as bad this year as in years past.

A lot of CBS4 viewers joined the conversation about miller moths on the CBS4 Facebook page.

"I thought it was only my house! I'm glad I'm not alone," Kevi Stringer wrote.

The pesky moths seem to be everywhere -- both outside and inside homes.

"Actually, they've been around, they've just been a little dormant with rain and colder temperatures," Jenifer Doane with the Butterfly Pavilion said.

The moths start out on the Eastern Plains and then make their way to the Front Range at the start of May. Once it gets too hot, they head up to the mountains.

"There are not more, not a surge, just more activity," Doane said.

Entomologists say the number of miller moths will be below normal this year. That's based on low numbers last fall when the eggs were actually laid. Although they seem like a nuisance, they're important to the ecosystem.

"Miller moths feed on alfalfa in the gardens," Doane said. "They're just a part of the food chain and they feed our birds."

If the moths are becoming too much of a problem, the following are suggestions:

- Don't keep any lights on near a door since moths are attracted to the light
- Close windows at night -- they'll find their way through a screen
- Put a bucket of soapy water out near a light -- the moths will be attracted, fall in and drown

Don't mistake miller moths for clothes moths. Miller moths won't be in closets or drawers.

The miller moths won't be around much longer -- probably another two or three weeks, and then they head up to higher ground. That's when all the butterflies will be out. They are a much more tolerable insect.