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Possible record moths descent on Australian Parliament

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CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Australian officials said this year's swarm of moths surrounding the Parliament House in Canberra may be a record.

Linda Broome of the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage said she has been monitoring the bogong moths drawn annually to the largest building in the nation's capital for 27 years and this year's insects arrived early and in larger than usual numbers due to warm weather and strong winds, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

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"It's certainly going to be a very big year and it's the most I've seen around Canberra for a long while," Broome said.

Carol Mills, Department of Parliamentary Services secretary, said a special vacuum-cleaning program has been instituted to help with the problem of moths infesting the inside of the building.

"Obviously having moths in almost every nook and cranny is an unpleasant thing for many people," Mills said. "We have had a number of moths set off our fire alarms, crossing the beams, and so we've had a number of false calls out over the last couple of weeks which is obviously an inconvenience for everybody."

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