Giant Moths Herald Swatting Season Down Under
Date: 12-Nov-03
Country: AUSTRALIA
Author: James Regan
Unlike the kangaroos and crocodiles that inhabit Australia's vast outback and swamps, the moths, called bogongs, prefer the big city lights of Sydney and Melbourne, where they flutter into high-rise offices, drown in bowls of soup, pester bus drivers, even freeze to death in refrigerators, come late October.
"They travel at night and are attracted to urban lights and the type used for big sporting events," says David Britton, collection manager in entomology at the Australian Museum.
Like their butterfly cousins, bogongs pose no health worries to humans, other than possibly to distract Australians from a favorite pastime: watching international rugby.
Millions of the furry-winged insects hovered above Telstra stadium in Sydney last month, when 78,000 fans turned out to watch the French national team pummel their Scottish rivals 51-9.
"After a while, the bogongs were more entertaining than our team, who played pathetically," a visiting fan from Edinburgh said.
During the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, bogongs up to 2 inches in size were such a nuisance that organizers needed to dim stadium lights, while athletes and spectators were forced to swat the swoopers each night in the Olympic park.
Long before organized sports in Australia, the moths were tasty "bush tucker" for aboriginal Australians, who gave the bogong its name.
Still popular among some aboriginal tribes, bogongs are gathered while they sleep. The insects are de-winged and roasted into moth cakes and served at once-popular moth feasts.
Some say bogongs have a nutty taste. Others say they taste like...well, chicken.
Those that survive the urban jungle at night also enjoy a longevity that is the envy of the bug world.
Bogongs stick around for a few weeks until summer starts in the Southern hemisphere then return to inland caves some 300 miles away to spend the hottest months asleep in the shade.
"They spend all summer in the mountains and can live up to four or five months, which is a long time for an insect," Britton said.
On a par with the huntsman, a creepy spider with a hairy back the size of a saucer, Australians hold bogongs in high esteem, as certain species are only found at home.
