NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A bug expert says the relatively mild winter let more miller moths survive to hang around Nebraska longer this year.

Entomologist David Boxler with the West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte says relatively lower temperatures this spring encouraged them to remain, but they’ll move west into the Rockies when the higher, summer temperatures arrive.

Boxler said miller moths are also known as army cutworm moths. They lay eggs in the open fields of the Central Plains, and this spring their emerging larvae caused problems as they fed heavily in alfalfa and wheat fields.

The moths will return this fall to lay eggs in Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa.