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Actor John Arcilla (right) shared his thoughts on the appearances of tropical swallowtail moths around Metro Manila in his Facebook post on June 21, 2025.
Edriel Lee via X, John Arcilla via Instagram
MANILA, Philippines — Award-winning actor John Arcilla is among those who reacted strongly to the sightings of moths around the metro, which were later identified to be Tropical Swallowtail Moths.
The “Heneral Luna” actor shared his thoughts about the trending insects on his Facebook post.
“Yes, it’s very alarming. It signifies a threat in our ecological system,” began the actor.
He reposted a social media thread, where the online user identified as Edriel aka EWolf620, shared about his “cursory” research on why these moths appear in urban cities.
The online user said that from his cursory study, he found that the emergence of these moths in Singapore pointed out to several possibilities, including lack of available host plants. He wrote that as food become scarce in the forests, these moths may be forced to migrate to other places.
Arcilla continued by sharing his similar thoughts on these moth’s appearance in Metro Manila.
“Continuous disappearances of host plants and forests affect their existence and the human resources in return. Moths and bees are hosts of plant transfers from territories to another. Their extinction will definitely affect the equilibrium of the ecosystem. It is actually disturbing and fretful,” Arcilla wrote.
In a report on GMA’s newscast “SONA,” reporter Darlene Cay interviewd a research associate named Edriel Lee, who assured that these tropical swallowtail moths do not pose any harm to humans because they do not bite nor transmit any disease.
Lee said these are native to Southeast Asia including the Philippines. Their presence in the metro is likely due to their attraction to light.
These moths migrate to new places since their host plants in their usual places are beginning to become scarce. Their host plants are the places where they lay their eggs. Their search may lead them astray to brightly lit areas, Lee said.
— Edriel (@EWolf620) June 19, 2025Yes its very alarming. It signifies a threat in our ecological system. Continuous Disappearances of host plants and forests affect their existence and the human resources in return. Moths and bees are hosts of plant transfers from territories to another. Their extinction will… pic.twitter.com/o8tOCuiJhN
— John Arcilla official (@JohnArcilla) June 20, 2025RELATED: John Arcilla: 'Lolong' commitment prevented 'Encantadia' cameo
