Unlike the webbing clothes moth, casemaking clothes moths seldom incorporate webbing or cocoons into the materials on which they are feeding. Oftentimes, the larvae crawl off the item to spin their cocoons in crevices of shelving, or along the juncture of walls and ceilings. It is important to recognize that damage attributed to clothes moths may in fact be caused by another group of insects adapted to digesting keratin— carpet beetles.
Carpet beetles are very common in homes and buildings, and feed on most of the same materials as clothes moths. However, these pests are quite different in appearance.
For more information on carpet beetles, see University of Kentucky Entomology Entfact As noted earlier, clothes moths feed on such animal-derived materials as wool, fur, silk, feathers and leather. Articles commonly infested include sweaters, scarves, coats, blankets, rugs, down pillows and comforters, upholstery, toys, decorative items, and taxidermy mounts.
The larvae prefer to feed in dark, undisturbed areas such as closets, chests and boxes where woolens and furs are stored for long periods. Clothing and blankets in regular use are seldom infested, nor are rugs that get a normal amount of traffic, or are routinely vacuumed.
Edges and undersides of rugs, or sections beneath furniture are more likely to be attacked. Clothes moths may also be found infesting upholstered furniture both inside and out , and in vents and ducts where the larvae may be feeding on lint, shed pet hair and other bits of debris. Infestations may also originate from bird nests or animal carcasses present in attics, chimneys or wall cavities.
Controlling clothes moths requires a thorough inspection to locate all infested items. Larvae prefer to feed in dark, undisturbed areas where woolens and other susceptible items are stored for long periods.
When inspecting clothing, pay attention to seams, folds, and creases e. Larvae also may be found along and beneath edges of rugs and carpeting. Use needle-nose pliers to lift the outer edge of wall-to-wall carpet from the tack strip along baseboards. Occasionally, infestations may originate from bird or animal nests in an attic, chimney, or wall cavity.
Infested items and susceptible articles nearby should be laundered, dry-cleaned or discarded. Bagging heavily infested items before disposal can help prevent further spread of the moths. Dry-cleaning or hot laundering kills any eggs or larvae that may be present. Heat generated by a clothes dryer is effective as well. Vacuuming floors, carpets, and inside heating vents effectively removes larvae as well as hair and lint, which could support future infestations.
Be sure to vacuum along and beneath edges of carpets, along baseboards, underneath furniture and stored items, and inside closets and quiet areas where clothes moths as well as carpet beetles prefer to feed. Insecticides applied to infested rugs and carpets may be helpful as a supplement to good housekeeping.
Sprays recommended for flea control see University of Kentucky Entomology Entfact , or with fabric insects listed on the label are effective. Infested clothing or bedding should not be treated with insecticides.
Elimination of persistent infestations in homes or businesses may require the help of a professional pest control firm.
The lifecycle lasts for about days, with the female adult moths living for about 30 days and potentially laying up to eggs. The larvae are notorious for feeding on wool, hair, leather, cotton, linen, silk and synthetic fibres — practically anything they can get their mouths onto.
The common clothes moth, also called the Webbing Clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella, is surprisingly small in its adult form at mm long. The adult moths are not strong fliers and prefer darkness over light, so you are less likely to see them flying about unless your infestation is heavy, and if you do, you are most likely to see them fluttering about in lower parts of the room. If you do see them higher up it is most likely that they have scaled curtains.
The adult clothes moth mates and reproduces but does not feed or cause damage to materials directly. The adult female clothes moth emits a pheromone which the male clothes moth can detect via his antennae.
The male seeks out the female by flying up the pheromone cloud and then mating occurs. If you are seeing adult moths flying around you are likely to have a well-established infestation. To target the adult phase, you should use either the Moth trap box or the Moth decoy. Both products use the same pheromone specific to the female webbing clothes moth. The Moth decoy uses the same pheromone in a unique tablet like product which spreads the pheromone on the bodies of the males moth, preventing them from finding mates and reducing reproduction and consequent egg laying.
The eggs are laid singly or in small groups, hidden away in materials such as folds of clothing or soft furnishings.
The eggs are the size of a pinhead. The newly emerged larvae are about 1mm long but grow up to 12mm. This is the destructive phase as the larvae have chewing mouth parts and feed on natural materials containing the protein keratin such as cashmere, wool, silk, feathers, furs and leather. They are unlikely to feed on synthetic fibres, but it is possible if they are soiled with food stains, skin cells and human secretions like sweat.
The larvae create silken threads which looks like webbing. They eat, grow, shed their skins and repeat.
With the right conditions, such as plenty of food, the right humidity and temperature the larvae become fully grown in 35 days however if conditions are not as favourable, then this could take as long as 2. As the temperature starts to rise in spring, the conditions become more favourable to the clothes moth and the life cycle begins to speed up which is why its common to start seeing adult moths at this time of year.
Use this time wisely to get a handle on an infestation as part of a spring clean, wardrobe clean out and change over to spring season garments. The case making moth larvae eat keratin, similarly to webbing clothes moths, and found in animal based fabrics - clothing and home textiles including carpets and rugs.
The Case-Bearing Clothes Moth builds itself a portable case out of debris such as fibers and hairs, in which they can hide. The carpet moth has a very similar life cycle to a clothes moth. The adults do not live long and the mated adult female lays hundreds of eggs in her short life time. The eggs will be laid in the quieter, darker and undisturbed areas of carpets and rugs and lay dormant for approximately 4 to 10 days before hatching. The larvae can live for up to 2 years which accounts for continued damage as they eat through the winter months, but in warmer periods they will pupate within 2 months of hatching, resulting in a number of cycles through the Spring to Autumn months.
The pupation stage will last up to 2 weeks before the adults emerge. The adults are relatively harmless and only live months, but the issue and risk to property is clearly the risk of further egg laying and the infestation getting out of land, hence the need to deal with both adult and larvae stages of the carpet moth lifecycle in treatment routines.
For more detail on the clothes moth life cycle , see our page describing the full life cycle of the clothes moth. MothPrevention clothes moth traps contain specific pheromones that will attract the male Webbing Clothes Moth and male Case-Bearing Moths - the pheromones differ from those needed to catch pantry moths Indian Meal Moths being the most common.
This is why it is so important to identify the species that you believe to be a problem. Our clothing moths pheromone traps are highly effective and engineered in Germany - they have been proven through lab tests and customer feedback to be superior to those made in the USA and China. They are a small price to pay to protect your investment pieces and precious home textiles. Clothes Moth Traps. Even though they are by far the most common, you may not recognize your moths as the ones above; it may be that you have White-Shouldered Moths or Brown House Moths , both of which can damage clothing.
Use our photo guide below to identify clothes moths and carpet moths. Click on the images for more information about each species. These are adult clothes moths. The adults do not eat fabric, but their presence means that eggs will be laid that will produce fabric-eating larvae.
Check for the clothes moth larvae if adult moths are present. Identify webbing clothes moth larvae by their feeding tunnels of silk, or webbing patches left behind on the fabric as they move around.
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