Aussie woman's horror as huge swarm of moths invades hotel room

Insects can terrify the best of us but one Aussie woman got the fright of her life when she opened the door of her hotel room saw a huge swarm of giant moths darting back and forth across the ceiling, with the infestation seeming to take up the whole room.

And she's not alone right now. If you've noticed a lot of moths lately, it's because there's been a sudden explosion of the insects, one expert explained to Yahoo News Australia.

Queensland singer-songwriter Emily Rink was horrified after recently encountering hundreds of moths flying around the lights and resting on walls in a hotel room in NSW where she was supposed to be sleeping that night.

Rink captured the scene as her and her brother entered the hotel room in a video she later shared online, telling Yahoo News Australia the pair ended up contacting the hotel reception to request a different room.

"We didn’t get rid of them, we couldn’t, so my brother slept in there," she said.

"He was offered another room but it was between moths or loud backpackers and he chose the moths and I stayed in the other room."

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Moth explosion caused by balmy weather

Referring to Rink's video, Dr Caitlyn Forster, an associate lecturer in entomology at the University of Sydney, explained to Yahoo News: "I think the issue might be that someone left a door or a window open and left a light on which insects use as a form of navigation and it has filled the room with moths".

“This is a very location-specific thing. There are a group of moths that aestivate in caves, this may not be the same species but it’s similar. Because moths tend to be attracted to light, you will see large numbers around light sources.

“There are a lot of moths around due to the warmer weather,” Forster told Yahoo News, noting there had also been a moth explosion in Sydney due to balmy spring conditions over the past two weeks.

“There’s been a bumper crop of insects flying around. I have seen dragon flies in huge numbers,” she added. "We're probably seeing a boost in moth populations currently."

Recently, huge swarms of moths were spotted in different parts of the country as the bogong moth began its annual migration period.

Forster said it was difficult to tell exactly what type of moths the ones in Rink's video were as there are 22,000 different species in Australia that all looked very similar.

She said they were likely to be of geometridae family, a group of moths that lay flat and have a specific wing shape.

Aussies are advised to switch off outside lights at night and draw their curtains to avoid drawing moths from their migration path.

"Moths can be a pretty frightening group of insects, and phobias of them are common. However, they're all pretty harmless. If you find a lot of moths in your house you can catch them and let them outside.

"They are usually nocturnal and won't be that active during the day so it may be easier to move them then."

'Moths? I thought they were bats'

In the comments on the video, scores of people described the terrifying scene as a “nightmare” with one adding: “Yeah, imagine checking the time on your phone in the middle of the night and they all flock to your face.”

“Moths? I thought they were bats, they're so big,” a third offered, while another wrote, “Fun fact: moths lay larvae that strongly resemble maggots, little tiny white caterpillars... and when they hatch there are literally hundreds... that's a moth nursery.”

One shocked social media user said: “How are there that many moths in a room? I’ve never seen anything like that,” and one more quipped: “I’d be in the next state in 30 minutes flat.”

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