Missing Tagged Moths May Signal a Healthier Bogong Population

In February, researchers from Western Sydney University and Invertebrates Australia attached paper tags to more than 14,000 bogong moths that were hanging in caves on Mount Kosciuszko.

The scientists placed 50 light traps around the mountains and asked volunteers to check them for the tagged moths, but none of the tagged insects have been found yet.

Entomologist Eleanor Drinkwater, an expert at Invertebrates Australia, said that the missing tags suggest the moth population may be larger than previously estimated, which is a good sign.

Bogong moth numbers fell dramatically in 2017, dropping by up to 99.5% because of drought and climate change, and the species was listed as endangered in 2021.

Researchers now have more than 2,700 sightings of untagged moths recorded on the citizen‑science platform iNaturalist, and they will use these records to create heat maps of the moths' movements.

These heat maps will help scientists understand where the moths travel and may guide future conservation actions.

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