What Are Clothes Moths?

The clothes moth and the damage that it causes has become increasingly talked about recently due to the dramatic increase in the number that are currently invading British homes, with many searching new forms of moth protection. The common clothes moth, the most popular form, is a type of moth officially known as Tineola Biselliella that feeds on clothing and textiles. They are infamously destructive creatures that are found predominantly in dark, dingy areas due to their dislike of the light (unlike a lot of their flying insect cousins who are attracted to light) and unfortunately they find these dark, hidden places in the likes of wardrobes and even clothing itself such as under collars and cuffs.

Their larvae can be particularly noticeable due to it’s frequent movement, worming its way along floors and carpets like a hyperactive maggot. They also leave their slug-like, silken feeding tubes along the cracks of flooring or the carpet and it is the webbing beneath the carpet that indicates the feeding patterns. The clothes moth, as it name suggests, feeds on all kinds of clothes, carpeting and rugs as well as sofas and chairs making it a potentially expensive hassle for homeowners but there are numerous forms of moth repellent and protection which can assist. However, not all make it inside and they are also able to feed on the more readily available pollen, feathers, fur and even dead insects or animals. They have also been known to eat more abstract items like the felt within a piano or the bristles of a brush.

By the time a clothes moth reaches adulthood, it is expected to have a wingspread of around half an inch although unusually, the male clothes moths usually have slightly smaller wingspreads. The body is around a quarter of an inch in length with it’s wings folded along its body. They are usually golden-yellow although from the surface look more of a brown color, especially when looked at in the dim light in which they dwell. They have a small patch of red hair on the top of their head and the eggs they lay that eventually spawn their maggot-like offspring, are usually small round eggs measuring about one twenty-fifth of an inch.

When the eggs hatch, they produce shiny, milky white larvae with brown heads around half an inch long which as discussed earlier, leave their shiny trails along the floor as they spread their feeding tubes. One of the most common forms of moth protection is a clothes moth repellent contained within a mothball - a toxic chemical that evaporates into a gaseous form killing the moths and their larvae.



http://www.pristine.co.uk provides a range of articles and advice on combatting the effect of clothes moths and the various forms of protection available.