A British woman living in Perth, Western Australia, said the large moths turning up in her home—not spiders—were what caught her off guard. In a story published on 3 November 2024, PerthNow reported that Lucy had encountered several moths and described an awkward attempt to deal with one in her bedroom. The account is a personal anecdote, not evidence of a Perth-wide moth surge.
What Lucy said happened
PerthNow reported that Lucy, described as a young mum who fears flying bugs, asked on TikTok: “Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on with these gigantic moths everywhere at the moment?” She said she thought she had killed four or five moths in her house in the previous 24 hours.
Lucy also described spending roughly 20 to 30 minutes trying to deal with a moth in her bedroom. Her approach was to launch a slipper at it, while admitting she was not good at throwing. That is part of the anecdote, not a pest-control recommendation.
Is this a Perth problem?
Lucy’s question reflects what she said she was seeing at home; the story does not establish that moth numbers had risen across Perth. The “four or five” figure is Lucy’s estimate for her own house over one day, as reported by PerthNow, not a citywide count or survey.
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Which moths were they?
The PerthNow story does not identify the moth species. Western Australia has multiple moth species with different seasonal flight periods, including sun-moths documented by the Western Australian Museum, but that regional information does not show that sun-moths were involved in Lucy’s encounter. The museum’s 2016 inventory describes species distribution and seasonality; it cannot identify moths in a home from this account.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development also monitors native budworm moths in Western Australian crops. Its crop-trapping information is agricultural context, not evidence about the insects inside Lucy’s house or their identity. The department notes that high moth-trap captures do not always lead to large caterpillar numbers. Its native budworm monitoring page does not establish that budworms were the moths Lucy saw.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the story establishes—and what it does not
- Established by the report: Lucy lives in Perth, is British, and said several large moths had appeared in her home.
- Not established: the species, a Perth-wide increase in moths, or the reason Lucy encountered them.
- Context, not identification: Western Australia has moth species with varying seasonal patterns, and the state monitors some moths in crop settings.
PerthNow’s account, published on 3 November 2024, is based on Lucy’s TikTok remarks. Without a species identification or broader monitoring data tied to household sightings, it cannot answer whether the moths were unusually numerous across Perth or explain why they were appearing in her home.
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