A moth problem?

[Danman]

I have a moth problem. There are about 30 or 40 of them every night in the garage (also doubles as a laundry room). There are some big evergreen trees right next to the garage that line one side of my driveway. I get moths in my truck to. I they are a pain to get out too. People proably think I crazy trying to get them out the windows. I don't see them at all in the day, but as soon as the sun goes down you see them all over. I have noticed them all around the city too. Is there anything that I can spray. What do they come from? Like a nest or a worm? I had a bag worm proablem in the trees I mentioned ( I caught them a little to late last year, but I thought that I killed them. Is that what they hatch into? If it is I might removing those trees this summer (they are about 6 ft. tall). I have no clue what I will do with that section and I'm sure I will get a weed problem if I remove them. The neighbors have quite and impressive Dandy lion farm in thier yard. I have a hard enough time keeping them out of my yard as it is and I don't need any help growing them.

They are driving me nuts and I find them in the laundry every now and them. I sure don't want holy cloths.

 

[Flying Scot]

Wrong kind of moth for eating clothes I venture. If you have an outside light high up that will attract them and will reduce the amount entering the garage. Try a bug zapper like the kind in a butcher shop to keep them down in the garage. Remove the trees but I still think you will have problems.

 

[Smitty]

All I can think of is a bb gun, a lawn chair, and a twelve pack? (Probably need to take your shirt off and cut the legs off of your jeans.)

 

[slo' mo]

If you have a good galvanized lawn sprayer you can add premix to it then set the nozzle to atomize. Hold your lighter in front and PRESTO! Instant flame thrower. Doesn't work for the June bugs though. Them suckers are like kamikaze pilots. Didn't anyone tell them it's still April??? :think:

 

[Jon K.]

Can you describe the critter? Big? Little? Saturnidae? Noctuidae? Sphingid?
If you can identify the bug; then you usually can narrow down the species of host plant. Post a picture?

 

[Danman]

I will see if I can snap a good pic, but the camara does not do upclose very well. I think I may be able to borrow a BB gun from someware :) I have been sick for a while now and I have not had a chance to even get out there to put on the new stuff that I just got in the mail.

 

[Jon K.]

I will take a wild guess. If you have evergreen trees in the pine family, then you might have Catocalas. They are a mid-sized moth with cryptic coloration on the upper wings and brilliant (almost startling) coloration on the underwings. Most have a wingspread of 1 1/2" to 2".

See photo.

 

[Ol'89r]

See if you can talk your neighbor into puting a big floodlight in his back yard. :scream: They will all move next door. :eek: :laugh:

 

[Danman]

I not found of the old neighbor on the east of me :) Looks like that on the front, but its a no go in the underside.

 

[Danman]

Here you are WFO.

 

[wibby]

Turn off all the lights and use night vision goggles! :thumb:

I kinda liked the BB gun and the flame thrower idea too!

 

[Jon K.]

That's Suzukous danmanni. They have been known to migrate in large numbers to old yellow motorcycles. :)

Really; Dan, I don't know that one. I would put it in the family Noctuidae; but that is as close as I can get. Regardless; you are pretty much at their mercy.

You probably have a large colony in your area. Large populations of insects usually prove to be unsustainable and as a result their numbers vary wildly. Once in a while conditions will fall just right and a population explosion will result. These explosions are almost invariably followed by a crash, as disease and overcrowding will take it's toll. That said; I would bet you see hardly any next year.

Look at the bright side. You can always take up a net and join the thousands of Lepidopterists that find such insects a fascinating subject to study. :)