Native Animals History and Science
Introduction
Moths, belonging to the order Lepidoptera, are among the most diverse insect groups in Victoria, with hundreds of species ranging from tiny leaf-miners to large hawk moths. Often overshadowed by their butterfly relatives, moths play critical ecological roles as pollinators, prey species, and indicators of environmental health.
For Indigenous peoples of Australia, moths held cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance. The most famous example is the Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa), which migrated in vast numbers to alpine areas and was a crucial seasonal food for many Nations. In Wadawurrung traditions, moths were also read as messengers of change and spirit beings linked with fire and night. Globally, moths have carried symbolic weight as creatures of mystery, transformation, and the soul.
Colonisation altered moth populations dramatically through habitat loss, urban lights, pesticides, and ecological disruption. Yet moths endure as symbols of resilience and transformation, fluttering quietly through Victoria’s nights.
Moths Before Colonisation
Ecological Role
Moths are pollinators, especially of night-blooming plants such as native orchids, wattles, and flowering eucalypts (CSIRO 2021).
Their larvae (caterpillars) feed on grasses, shrubs, and trees, forming a vital link in food webs.
They are important prey for birds, bats, frogs, reptiles, and small mammals.
Some species, such as the Bogong moth, migrate long distances, linking ecosystems across states.
Cultural Role
Moths were tied to seasonal calendars. Their appearance or absence helped Aboriginal peoples read the cycles of plants, animals, and climate (Flood 1983).
In some traditions, moths were associated with spirits of the dead, returning at night to remind families of obligations.
The Bogong moth was among the most important traditional foods in southeastern Australia. Roasted and ground into cakes, it was rich in fat and protein, sustaining people during alpine gatherings (Flood 1983; Clarke 2009).
Wadawurrung Stories and Oral History
On Wadawurrung Country, moths were part of ecological and cultural knowledge:
Messengers of fire: Moths gathering near flames were read as spirit beings drawn to ceremony and light. Their fragile wings reminded people of the balance between life, death, and renewal.
Indicators of abundance: The sudden swarming of certain moth species marked times of plenty, indicating good hunting or the ripening of plants.
Connection to Bogong gatherings: While Bogong moths themselves were more abundant further north and east (e.g., Taungurung and Ngunnawal Country), Wadawurrung people participated in intertribal exchanges where Bogong cakes were traded, making moths part of broader cultural exchange networks.
Spirits of the night: Oral traditions sometimes describe moths as visitors from the spirit world, teaching respect for the unseen forces of Country.
Case Study: The Bogong Moth Decline (2017–2021)
The Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) once migrated in billions from the plains of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria to the Australian Alps each summer. These migrations sustained not only ecosystems but also Aboriginal cultural gatherings across alpine Country.
Traditional importance: For the Ngunnawal, Walgalu, Taungurung, and other Nations, the arrival of Bogong moths in alpine caves was the centre of ceremony, trade, and kinship. People feasted on roasted moths, rich in protein and fat, and shared knowledge and stories across Nations (Flood 1983).
Collapse in numbers: Since 2017, climate change and agriculture have caused catastrophic declines. Drought in breeding areas, combined with pesticide use on crops, led to a 99% reduction in moth numbers arriving in the Alps (Kingsford et al. 2019).
Flow-on impacts: The decline has disrupted ecosystems — notably threatening the endangered mountain pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus), which relies on Bogong moths as a primary summer food source.
Cultural disruption: Aboriginal communities describe the collapse as more than an ecological crisis — it represents a spiritual silencing of Country, where ceremonies tied to the moths are now fractured.
Hope and resilience: In 2021–22, some recovery in moth numbers was recorded. Conservation efforts now focus on protecting breeding grounds, reducing pesticide use, and recognising the moths as both an ecological keystone and a cultural being.
This case illustrates how a species once central to both Aboriginal law and mountain ecology has been driven to the brink, embodying the broader impacts of colonisation and climate change.
Stories from Across Australia
Bogong moth Dreamings (Alpine Nations): For the Ngunnawal, Walgalu, and neighbouring peoples, Bogong moth migrations into the Snowy Mountains were a time of feasting, trade, and ceremony. These gatherings reinforced kinship and law (Flood 1983).
Central Desert: Moths appear in stories as symbols of metamorphosis and patience, teaching about growth and hidden transformation.
Arnhem Land: Some Yolŋu stories link moths with ancestral spirits who guide hunters at night.
Global Stories and Symbolism
Ancient Greece: Moths were associated with psyche, the soul, representing transformation and mortality.
Japan: Moths, like butterflies, symbolise the spirit of the dead, often linked to ancestral visitation.
Mexico: In some Indigenous traditions, moths were linked with fire and night, seen as spirit messengers.
Celtic traditions: Moths represented intuition and mystery, beings of the unseen world.
Across cultures, moths are often tied to death, rebirth, and the passage between worlds, their nocturnal habits enhancing their symbolic role.
Impacts of Colonisation
Ecological Impacts
Habitat loss: Clearing of forests, grasslands, and wetlands reduced host plants for moth larvae.
Artificial light: Urban lighting disorients moths, disrupting mating and migration.
Pesticides: Widespread agricultural chemicals caused major declines in moth populations, especially in farmland regions (CSIRO 2021).
Collapse of Bogong migrations: In recent years, climate change and agriculture have reduced Bogong moth populations by up to 99% in some years, disrupting alpine ecosystems and Aboriginal cultural practices (Kingsford et al. 2019).
Cultural Impacts
Disruption of food systems: Colonisation ended the great Bogong gatherings, cutting off a key source of food and cultural exchange.
Loss of story transmission: As moth populations declined, many of the seasonal and ceremonial associations weakened.
Colonial dismissal: Settlers often saw moths as pests, ignoring their ecological and cultural importance.
The Science of Moths
Diversity: Victoria hosts hundreds of moth species, from small grass moths to large hawk moths.
Metamorphosis: Moths undergo complete transformation from egg to caterpillar to cocoon to adult, symbolising adaptability and rebirth.
Navigation: Some migratory moths, including the Bogong moth, use the Earth’s magnetic field and stars to guide their journeys (Warrant et al. 2016).
Ecosystem role: By pollinating plants and providing food for countless species, moths are essential to biodiversity.
Symbolism and Meaning
Indigenous Communities
Moths symbolise transformation, spirit, and seasonal change.
They are messengers from the unseen, tied to fire, death, and renewal.
In the case of Bogong moths, they embody abundance, sharing, and ceremony.
Globally
Symbols of death and rebirth.
Messengers of the soul and intuition.
Reminders of fragility, mystery, and transformation.
Today
Moths remain symbols of ecological resilience and fragility. Their ongoing decline due to climate change and light pollution makes them indicators of the need to restore balance between people and the environment.
Conclusion
Moths in Victoria are far more than night-flying insects. They are pollinators, prey, indicators of water and land health, and cultural messengers. For Aboriginal peoples, they were woven into seasonal law, spirit stories, and major gatherings such as the Bogong feasts. Colonisation disrupted their abundance and cultural roles, but moths endure as fragile yet resilient beings.
The Bogong moth decline highlights the profound ecological and cultural consequences of imbalance. It is a reminder that even the smallest beings can hold up entire worlds — and that when they falter, both ecosystems and cultures are shaken.
References
Clark, ID 1990, Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900, Monash University, Melbourne.
Clarke, P 2009, Australian Plants as Aboriginal Tools, Rosenberg, Sydney.
CSIRO 2021, Australian Moths Online: National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra.
Flood, J 1983, Archaeology of the Dreamtime, Collins, Sydney.
Kingsford, RT, Watson, JEM, Lundquist, CJ, Venter, O & Hughes, L 2019, Major Conservation Issues Facing Terrestrial and Freshwater Invertebrates in Australia, Biological Conservation.
Warrant, EJ, Frost, B & Green, K 2016, “Navigational Strategies in Nocturnal Moths: The Case of the Bogong,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 283: 20152995.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter and Uncle Reg Abrahams 16/09/2025
MLA Educational Articles
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.