Enviroguard Pest Guides
Moths
| Brown House Moth (Hofmannophila pseudospretella) Appearance • Adult - 8 to 12mm long. Golden bronze/brown wings flecked with black. • Related White-shouldered House Moth has mottled wings with a white head and 'shoulders' where the wings join the body. • Larva - up to 18mm long. Creamy white with a brown head. • Pupa - 15mm long in a silk cocoon. |
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• Only feeds in larval stage, scavenging far and wide on on wool, hair, fur, feathers or debris from foodstuffs.
• Commonest of the so-called clothes moths.
• Adult prefers to run rather than fly.
| Common Clothes Moth (Tineola bisselliella) Appearance • Adult - 6 to 7mm long. Plain golden-buff wings with no markings and fringed trailing edge, folded tent-wise along their backs. • The rarer Case-Bearing Clothes Moth is duller, with dark brown spots on its wings. • Larva - up to 10mm long. Creamy white with a golden-brown head. • Pupa - about 6mm long. |
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• The larvae are white caterpillars with golden-brown heads, which spin a hiding place of silk tubes and webbing, beneath which they feed.
• Larvae eat wool, hair, fur or feathers, with a preference for woollen items or upholstery that have been soiled with perspiration or food.
• Irregular holes made in fabrics.
• Adult runs rather than flies, and causes no damage.
Signs of moth activity include:
• Damage to fabrics, upholstery and other organic household materials.
• adult moths (often crawling rather than flying).
• maggot-like larvae.
• Silken tubes or webbing in which moth larvae live.
• Silk cocoons (pupae) in which larvae turn into moths.
While not perceived as posing a health risk, moths are a serious pest in homes and businesses because of the severe damage their larvae cause to clothes, fabrics, furs, leather and carpets - through feeding or by contamination with their own products. Serious harm may have been done before numbers of flying moths are seen, so prevention of a moth problem is important. While a minor infestation can be dealt with using DIY products, an established moth problem will require professional assistance from an Enviroguard technician. Read more at the Britsh Pest Control Association.
For an efficient, environmentally friendly solution to your moth pest problem,
contact Enviroguard pest control - NOW.