Household Bugs -- Identify Clothes Moths

People seem to think that every moth in the world eats sweaters. That's wrong on several levels. This post will give you the straight facts about clothes moths -- what they are, what they aren't, and what you can do about them.

First of all, THIS is a clothes moth:

"Tineola.bisselliella.7218" by Olaf Leillinger - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tineola.bisselliella.7218.jpg#/media/File:Tineola.bisselliella.7218.jpg

Not much to it, is there? It's a tiny brown moth in a group with the scientific name Tineidae. This is the only group that eats fibers and stored cloth -- virtually every other moth on the planet just eats leaves. And even then, it's not the moths that do the eating -- it's the caterpillars. The same goes for clothes moths. The adults don't eat your sweaters, the caterpillars do. 

Here's an adult clothes moth next to the shelter that the caterpillars make and live in:

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/images/clothmth.gif

Only the caterpillars eat wool, and that's the critter you want to get rid of. Finding moths flying around only alerts you to the problem -- even if they all left, the caterpillars would still be munching away in your closets, waiting to turn into moths.

 “There are 15,000 moth species in the U.S.,” says Bruce Walsh, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona at Tucson. “To give you a sense of perspective, only two affect clothes. So if you see one, odds are you don’t have clothes moths.”

As with many things, prevention is the key. Good old-fashioned naptha (moth balls)keeps the insect out from the start. But if you DO find you have a clothes moth infestation, there are a few things you can do.

• Have everything dry-cleaned. This will kill all of the life stages of the clothes moth
• Vacuum your closets thoroughly. Many times there are pupae and moths hiding in cracks comers, and a good vacuum will pull them out.
• Invest a few dollars in Pro-pest Clothes Moth Trap 3 Packs (6 Traps). This will attract and trap moths -- if you have any, that is. It's a good way to be sure.
• Put everything in the freezer for two weeks. Clothes moths can't survive that much cold for that long.
• Place cedar balls or cups in your closets. It's a natural moth repellant.

This will help! Clothes moths do have a way of coming back, though, so you may need to do this for a while!

Good luck and keep those caterpillars out of your closets!

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