Where moths lay their larvae. How to distinguish kitchen moths from clothing moths. Preventing or reducing infestations

House moth

Moths are quite harmful insects that prefer to consume keratin contained in

wool and natural fur products. The insect adapts perfectly to different conditions existence. Thanks to this, it is found on almost every continent. Exists large number insect species, which are different from each other. The article will discuss the main varieties of moths and their distinctive characteristics.

External characteristics

The insect belongs to the order Lepidoptera. Let's look at what a moth looks like in more detail.

This is a small butterfly that lives well in twilight conditions and belongs to the keratophagous family.

It is the larvae that pose the greatest danger, because they cause irreversible damage to expensive fur and wool products. The butterfly moth is dangerous because it produces rich offspring.

The main goal of adults is to carry out the mating process followed by laying eggs. It is clear and understandable that a small insect is not able to eat an entire fur or carpet product, but it can significantly damage appearance she can do it. Thanks to this example, you can imagine what will happen to a fur coat or carpet if you don’t start fighting the pest in time.

Moth larvae

Externally, this pest is quite similar to an ordinary butterfly. Only if you look more closely, you can see that, unlike a butterfly, it does not have a proboscis. Butterflies use their proboscis to extract nectar from flower stalks, because nectar is not always close to the surface.

The larvae have fairly massive jaws, with the help of which they not only cope with fur products, but can also chew the seeds and seeds of fruits. Transforming into an adult, the jaws are reduced. Adult butterflies have neither a proboscis nor jaws. After all, being a caterpillar, they perfectly replenished their energy reserves, which will last them for a long time. Adults can no longer chew or digest food. Their main task, at this stage, is to produce offspring.

Types of moths and their descriptions

Today, more than 3,000 species of these insects are known. Thirty of which are harmful, and only fifteen species can live in human homes.

Outwardly, they are all similar to each other. Only a professional will immediately point out the distinctive wing color, body shape and size. Species of moths that live in human homes have wings within 7 millimeters. The color is rather inconspicuous, mostly in gray shades. The moth, the types of which are presented below, brings a lot of harm to people.

Clothes moth

Clothes moth

Clothes moths or clothing moths mainly spoil woolen and wool-blend products. A distinctive feature is the small size of the insect, within 1 centimeter, and its rich straw color. If

the butterfly feeds exclusively on woolen products, then it short terms reaches puberty. If the product contains synthetic impurities, then the caterpillar development process is a little longer.

A photo of the moth larvae and the butterfly itself is presented on the page.

This species is distinguished by the fact that only males have the ability to fly. Females move short distances. They do not need to fly at all, since the males will fly to them themselves.

Food

Moth butterflies appear in those products in which storage techniques have been violated, or they have been collected for future use and are stored for a long time. Everyone has a rough idea of ​​what a moth larva looks like. This is a small worm that can reach a length of 2 centimeters. The thickness depends on what food the larva consumes. If the food has a high fat content, then the larva will be more massive. This species feeds exclusively on food products.

If there are butterflies in the products, you need to look for the larvae somewhere nearby.

Food products that may harbor the pest:

food moth

• Flour;
• Various types of cereals;
• Seeds,
• Nuts,
• Dried fruits;
• Pasta;
• Cookies and sweets;
• Seeds;
• Crackers.

It can start in foods that contain carbohydrates. Thanks to their powerful jaws, pests can easily cope with even very hard products.

Signs indicating the presence of larvae in food products:

• The grain is stuck together, or the presence of cobwebs;
• Presence of lumps in the cereal;
• Tunnels and passages in products;
• Skins from cereals

If a lump is found in the croup, then when it is crushed, a larva will appear in it. They specifically use this trick so as not to attract human attention. They are often found where there is food: these are restaurants, grain storage facilities, and shops. There are very frequent cases when, when purchasing cereal in a sealed package, before opening it, traces of spoilage of the product are already visible. This suggests that the cereal was contaminated even before packaging.

For protection, bulk food products should be stored in tightly closed containers. Glass jars or plastic containers are best for this.

What a food moth looks like, the photo is presented on the page.

Food moths are perfectly camouflaged. After all, when her wings are folded, she doesn’t look like an insect at all. Caterpillars range in color from light yellow to pink shade. Until the larva transforms into a butterfly, individuals are inactive. The most suitable environment for development is an air temperature of up to +25 degrees and with 50% air humidity. Within six months, the insect goes through all stages of its development.

Moths destroy very expensive things

Fur coat

Eat separate species, which spoils fur coats and fur products. The fur pest spoils fur products in the following way: it trims the fibers and then shreds them. Therefore, where the butterfly has “worked”, certain paths and passages will be visible on the fur. For a detailed look at the moth larvae, a photo is attached.

Indoor (furniture) moth

Indoor moth - photo shown next to it.

There are other types: cabbage, white, chestnut, vampire moth, potato, grain.

How to distinguish clothes moths from food moths

Clothes moth differs from food moth in that it is three millimeters smaller. The color of the clothes moth's wings ranges from light yellow to brown. If you examine this individual through a magnifying glass, you will see that it is covered with silvery pollen. Their favorite place to live is dark closets that are rarely ventilated. Very often it settles where there is a large concentration of dirty clothes, which is stored for a long time.

The food moth is larger in size and has a characteristic pattern on its wings. Depending on the type of food moth, the color may vary.

Lifespan of a moth

How long does a moth live? Enough interesting question. After laying eggs, caterpillars emerge from them fifteen days later. Which create a cocoon around themselves in which they can live and develop from two months to a year. An adult butterfly lives from 2 weeks to a month.

It is the larvae that cause the most damage.

Methods for controlling house moths

How to get rid of moth larvae once and for all? To do this, certain conditions must be met.

Actions aimed at combating residential insects:

If everything is done correctly, the insect will leave the home easily and quickly.

Preventive measures against moths

To prevent this pest from entering your home again, you must adhere to the following rules:

• Food products must be stored in well-closed glass or plastic containers.
• Don't stock up in advance a large number food products. After all, they also have their own expiration date.
• When purchasing cereal, you must visually assess the condition of the product for the presence of cocoons and cobwebs.
• It is very good if the ventilation passages are closed with fine mesh grilles.
• Place scented herbs, soap, or special means. After all, these insects are very afraid of all sorts of pungent odors.

Clothes and furniture moths have long been known to damage clothing, fur and wool products, upholstery and carpets. At the same time, the furniture moth prefers fur, furs and wool, and the clothes moth prefers mainly cotton products. In nature, both species are pronounced keratophages - that is, they feed on the hair and feathers of animals, and in an apartment they can easily switch from one diet to another.

This is interesting

Among the moths there is a butterfly whose caterpillars gnaw holes in the horns of African antelopes and live in them, feeding on keratin.

In the past, both of these types of house moths were called collectively - clothes moth, and even today this habit has been preserved among the people, although the butterflies themselves are quite easily distinguished from each other. Therefore, later in the text when describing common features In biology, both species will be called clothes moths, and if clarification is required, this will be discussed separately.

First look at clothes and furniture moths

Both types of moths are quite similar to each other. Adult butterflies are small - they reach 5-9 mm in length with folded wings, and have an inconspicuous straw-yellow color. The furniture moth may be somewhat darker, and it also has slight darkening at the base of the wings.

Clothes moths are almost always light yellow. It is difficult to discern the differences between these species with the naked eye. For example, in the photo below there is a clothes moth:

And on next photo- furniture moth:

In the air, the furniture moth looks like a small moth that is not the most skilled in flight. In both furniture and clothes moths, only males fly. Females have wings, but they do not use them.

This is interesting

The opinion that female house moths are wingless is not true. Any indoor moth has winged females and males. The wings of females are only slightly smaller than the wings of males, and in principle, females are capable of flight. But this ability is not used as unnecessary - the males themselves find them, fertilize them, and the females lay eggs without long distances.

An inexperienced eye is unlikely to be able to detect differences between male and female clothes moths. What distinguishes the clothes moth from the food moth, for example, the barn moth or the mill moth, is the uniform color of the wings. All types of moths have a fairly noticeable pattern on their wings.

But the most important pest is not at all. The immediate destroyers of clothing and furniture upholstery are inconspicuous small caterpillars that carefully and quite quickly gnaw holes in sweaters, tracks on fur coats and bald patches on carpets.

Moth larva and eggs: how and where to find them

So, it is the moth larva that feeds on our clothes. From wool and cotton, the caterpillar can extract the minimum nutrients, which are there, and for this she has all the necessary devices:

At the same time, the larvae of furniture moths are clearly distinguished from the larvae of clothes moths. The larva of a clothes moth can build a simple small case from its own secretions and food debris, while the caterpillar of a furniture moth builds a clearly visible and durable corridor along its entire route of movement.

The photo below shows a clothes moth larva. It retains this whitish-yellow color throughout its development:

House moth caterpillars are quite inactive. Only after hatching from the eggs, they spread to short distances from each other, but after they begin to feed fully, they move very little.

This is interesting

Clothes moth caterpillars diligently avoid light. If you bring clothes with them into the light, they try to hide among the folds or in their covers.

If the food is quite suitable for the larvae of house moths (contains little or no synthetics), they grow quickly, and in 18-20 days they manage to molt 12-13 times, after which they pupate. If the caterpillars have to eat low-nutrient food (for example, with a high content of indigestible synthetic fibers), then in most cases development is delayed up to 1-2, and sometimes up to 6 months.

Note

The development of house moth larvae slows down even if the air temperature in the place where they are present decreases. At the same time, the caterpillars themselves become smaller, and when certain temperatures are reached, they hide in cocoons and stop feeding.

Eggs indoor species moths are white or whitish-yellow in color, small and do not exceed 0.5 mm in length. The female lays them in small groups of 50-80 pieces directly on clothing or other fabric, which the larvae will subsequently feed on.

An example of clothes moth egg laying is shown in the photo below:

The eggs of clothes and furniture moths develop within 5-6 days, but when the air temperature drops, this period is delayed, and when they reach 0°C, the eggs die altogether.

Moth nutrition and the main harm from it

Adult clothes moths do not feed at all. Their mouthparts and digestive tract are underdeveloped, and they do not need food.

Moth butterflies live at most for several weeks, more often - 8-10 days. Typically, females lay eggs already on the third or fourth day after emerging from the pupa, after which they die quite quickly.

Moth larvae that feed on fur items cannot move through the wool unhindered. Therefore, on the way of their movement, they have to gnaw on fur hairs that they do not eat, leaving a clipped path and a bunch of hairs on their clothes.

Moth caterpillars cannot feed on completely synthetic things. If the fabric consists partly of synthetics, then it can be eaten by the larva, but on such a diet the caterpillar grows much slower than on natural fabrics.

Reproduction and lifestyle of the pest

Having emerged from the pupa, male clothes moths begin to diligently search for a female, guided primarily by smell. After mating, within 3-4 hours, the female begins to lay eggs. She lays them in portions, while the furniture moth is much more prolific - one female can lay up to 300 eggs, while for a female clothes moth this number barely reaches 60.

The clothes moth has no seasonality in development and reproduction. Larvae from the same clutch can develop at different speeds, and the emergence of butterflies from the larvae occurs unevenly and scatteredly. In nature, all species of mid-latitude moths have a period of hibernation; pupae or caterpillars of the last instars usually overwinter.

Fighting moths: are there really reliable means?

Today there are a large number of ways to get rid of clothes moths, both traditional and quite modern. The most effective among them are the following.

Moths are always associated with a small moth of inconspicuous color, the appearance of which in the house becomes a signal for an inspection of all fur and wool products. However, in nature there is great variety these insects that can cause damage both in the apartment and on personal plot. In order to fight the pest, it is not enough to know what a moth looks like as an adult, since the main threat is its offspring.

Characteristics of all types

Mole – lepidopteran insect, whose activity begins at dusk. They are characterized by their small size and narrow wings when folded. The clothes folds its wings into a triangle, the moths into tubes, and the ermines into a pyramid (see photo).

The color depends on the type of moth and habitat. For most insects, camouflage is a vital necessity to protect themselves from predators. The white moth - the snow leaf roller - practically does not stand out against the background of the birch, and the fireweed is difficult to see on the green leaves. Below is a photo of a moth living in the wild.

You can distinguish adults from butterflies by. In the adult stage, moths do not feed on anything, and their energy reserves are replenished from substances that they accumulated as caterpillars. The oral apparatus of the larvae is equipped with powerful jaws that can gnaw through even hard bones, dense seed shells, turtle shells, and animal horns.

Features of reproduction

The answer to the question of how moths reproduce will help you take action. preventive measures and more effectively combat the pest. 5-6 hours after mating, the female lays eggs, their number varies between 50 -100 pieces. In most cases, moth eggs are found in the same substrate where the entire family lives. Under favorable conditions, after 6-7 days, small worm-like creatures with a whitish transparent body, the size of which does not exceed 1 mm, appear. Optimal conditions for the development of eggs - a temperature of 30-33 ° C; at a temperature of 15 ° C, the duration of maturation can increase to 35 days.

Pregnant females hardly fly and lead a sedentary lifestyle. Mostly males fly in the apartment.

Caterpillars are also not prone to travel and are characterized by low mobility. At this stage of moth development, they molt several times, and the duration of the period can range from 40 days to 2.5 years. The developed caterpillars begin to weave a cocoon in which it will pupate. The inside is absolutely smooth, the outer part can be covered with small debris, insect excrement, and dust particles. The pupal development stage lasts 8-28 days depending on temperature environment.

The complete development cycle from egg to adulthood can range from 60 days to 2-3 years. How long an adult lives depends on its gender. Females live 7-10 days, and the lifespan itself can reach 30 days.

Description of varieties

Several tens of thousands live on the planet different types these insects. The main household pests are the following types moths: furniture moths, food moths (grain moths), wool moths, fur moths, clothes moths, (), etc.

Almost every type of plant has its own type of insect.

Indoor moth

House moth is a collective term for all types of insects that can live in the house and spoil groceries and clothing. The only difference between them is the power source; external differences can only be recognized by a specialist.

The clothes moth is distinguished by its yellowish wings without visible patterns. The larvae live in hollow tissues and are able to gnaw out a huge space. Long time their presence may not be noticeable, since they leave the outer thin layer intact. They prefer to eat cotton, wool, and natural upholstery. upholstered furniture. From waste products, food debris, and microscopic dust accumulations, the larvae build their own cover. Clothes moth is afraid daylight and tries to hide in the folds of clothes or in cases. For the most part, the insect lives in clothing closets in dark secluded corners.

There are several ways to get rid of clothes moths and other clothing-eating species at home:

• Aerosol products for treating clothing are effective in killing insects at all stages of development and can be used at any time of the year.
• Freezing of clothes - at temperatures below 5°C the entire population dies. High temperatures also have the same effect, so you can get rid of clothing moths by hanging contaminated clothing outside on a hot day, shaking it first. Some of the larvae will fall off, and the rest will die in the sun.
• Washing contaminated items at the maximum permissible temperatures.
• The use of special fumigators with insecticides.
• As a means of combating adult butterflies, they are used folk remedies. Strong-smelling herbs in fabric bags, hung in closets with clothes, can scare away nondescript moths. But you should understand that aromas cannot destroy the larvae and eggs.

When listing the types of moths, one cannot help but recall the fur moth, which is capable of turning an expensive fur item into an unwearable item in a short period of time. Adult butterflies are characterized by their small size and small black dots on their wings. Larvae white. Food preferences include natural fabrics and furs.

Furniture moth

Furniture moth - another type indoor pests. The larvae chew their way through and their travel route may look like tunnels. The development time of caterpillars depends on nutritional value stern. In food with high content Natural components of the larvae grow very quickly, after 25-30 days they turn into a full-fledged sexually mature individual and begin to multiply rapidly. Females are very fertile - the number of eggs in one oviposition can reach two hundred.

Distinctive features of food moths

Food moths are insects from the moth family with characteristic pattern on the wings. In apartments there are also inconspicuous food moths, which can be mistaken for clothes moths. The favorite habitats of representatives of this species are the kitchen and food storage areas. The larvae readily eat nuts, cereals, dried fruits and any dry food.

The main harm caused by insects is food spoilage, which becomes completely unsuitable for consumption. You should start fighting a household pest as soon as the “enemy” has revealed its presence, then it will be easier for other bulk products:

• Conduct an audit of all food supplies. Carefully inspect the contents of all jars and containers, even if they are hermetically sealed. Buying contaminated cereals is a common occurrence. If you find a product containing a pest, it is best to throw it away. Occasionally, when the infection has not become widespread, potentially contaminated products are heated in the oven.
• External and internal walls kitchen cabinets, the cabinet needs to be processed insecticide and make sure that it does not get on food.
• Adults must also be destroyed. Despite the fact that they have lost the ability to feed, they mate and reproduce perfectly. Adults can be eliminated mechanically, using sticky tapes, bait traps.

Street moth

Street moths include a large number of insect species. City dwellers can often observe poplar moths, which are sometimes called wood moths. Moths do not harm humans; they feed on poplar fluff and tree leaves.

IN agriculture Grain, cabbage, potato, gooseberry, tomato, etc. are common. Almost every plant can “boast” of its own type of this pest.

Beekeepers are familiar with wax moths. Adults emit a special aroma, thanks to which the bees mistake them for their own and freely let them into the hive. The larvae feed on all the products that are in the bee house: honey, beebread, wax. Infection of hives with wax moths leads to the fact that bee colonies weaken and are forced to leave their habitat or die.

Moths can adapt quite quickly to different conditions existence, so this insect can be found on any continent. Adults and larvae, depending on the species, vary in size and color - some are large and bright, others are small and unsightly. This article will help you determine which type of pest you are dealing with and what to expect from it.

Who is this moth?

Moths are insects of the order Lepidoptera, which are characterized by their small size and lead a mostly twilight lifestyle. It is the larvae of these insects that are serious pests, and the adults, having reached sexual maturity, only mate and lay eggs.

Oral organ

Moths are similar to butterflies in many ways, but one of the most colorful distinctive features is their lack of a proboscis. Butterflies use this organ to obtain nectar, which is hidden quite deep in the inflorescences of plants. , being primitive creatures and less whimsical in food, have powerful jaws that allow them to chew even fruit seeds and plant seeds.

So, why don't moths have a proboscis? The answer is quite simple. These insects simply do not need it, since, while still caterpillars, they, with the help oral apparatus consume food and accumulate energy reserves in the body.

Growing up, moths not only lose the ability to eat, but also cannot digest food. IN mature age their main task- breed offspring.

For this reason, it makes no sense to fight with adults. It is the larvae that spoil your furniture, clothes and feed on cereals hidden in the kitchen.

Interesting fact! Some species that reach sexual maturity may still have jaws, but even then they will not pose a potential threat. This means that they have not yet fully evolved.

Lifespan

Now we need to find out how long the moth lives. The duration of existence of an winged individual is quite short and can be about 2-4 weeks, which depends on the type of insect. During this period, they move very little and fly only at dusk, which is due to their complete defenselessness against predators and poorly developed wings. But before puberty there are two stages:

• the female lays eggs, from which caterpillars appear at a temperature of +20°C after 13-15 days;
• The larvae wrap themselves in a cocoon, which is made from nutritious material, and live and develop in it for a relatively long period of time - from 3 to 10 months.

Based on the duration of the above stages and summing them up, it is easy to calculate life cycle moths and what damage they can cause during their existence.

Variety of species

House moths are small insects, the length of the wings reaches 7 mm and when folded form a triangle. These pests differ in their color to a small extent, since for the most part they are quite inconspicuous and inconspicuous.

If we consider the ermine moth, it will differ not only in its bright color, but also in the way it folds its wings - it is no longer a triangle, but a pyramid. The wallflower also stands out for the colorfulness of its wings, which when folded look like a narrow tube.

Some pests have a unique color that helps them camouflage perfectly. This is necessary mainly for species living in wildlife, since they are unable to fly long distances and they also lack any means of protection.

Major household and agricultural pests

Particular attention should be paid to what the pest moth looks like. There are few of these species, but they can cause significant damage.

Wax moth

Wax moths are a danger to bee hives. The caterpillars of these insects feed on honey and beebread, and also eat bee larvae. In some cases, large colonies can even destroy insulation, which serves as protection for bees from low temperatures.

Interesting fact! The caterpillars of this type of moth are widely used in medicine, since they, feeding on bee products, perfectly digest wax.

When listing the types of moths, it is impossible to ignore the insect that can destroy your favorite fur coat. For this type of insect, your closet, where fur products are stored, becomes a real “paradise”. After all, this is where she finds endless source nutrition.

Clothes moths mainly destroy wool products. TO external signs This includes the straw color and small size of the insect, which reaches 9 mm with folded wings.

Attention! In addition to items made from natural fabrics, clothes moths can also damage semi-synthetic materials. But with such nutrition, the development process of the caterpillar slows down and it reaches the stage of puberty somewhat later.

Females always move on foot, since, despite the presence of wings, they have no need to fly. During the breeding season, males find them on their own, after which females lay eggs without moving long distances.

Indoor (furniture) moth

The furniture moth is an inconspicuous butterfly of a light yellow hue. Its wings have a characteristic golden tint. Over the course of 15 days, the female lays eggs, the number of which can reach 300 pieces.

While in the caterpillar stage, indoor moths are inactive. They begin to move only after they begin to eat fully. The larvae are very afraid of bright light, and if you put something infected with these pests in the sun, you can see how they begin to hide in folds or crawl into their cocoons.

Potato moth

Fledged individuals have long antennae and live only a few days. When the wings are folded, the body length reaches about 7 mm. The inconspicuous color allows the butterfly to remain invisible even at a short distance when viewed directly.

The caterpillars of this species are distinguished by a light green color; sometimes pale pink larvae are found. The female lays eggs with bottom side leaves of the plant, from which, after a short period of time, larvae emerge and begin to develop very quickly.

Attention! The caterpillars die when the temperature drops to +4°C, but having settled directly in the tubers, they can remain alive. As a rule, when cold weather sets in, they move into barns, where they feed on seed potatoes, after which they enter the ground during planting in the spring.

Cabbage moth

– pest of cruciferous plants. It has an elongated body and light brown wings. When the wings are folded, the butterfly looks like a small straw. Along the edges of the wings adult there is fringe. Like many other species, the cabbage pest flies rather poorly and always remains in close proximity to the place where it emerges from the cocoon.

food moth

When the wings of an adult are folded, its body length reaches 8 mm. A moth sitting on any surface is quite difficult to notice at first glance, since it looks more like a small protrusion than an insect.

The caterpillars of this species are light yellow or light pink in color with flat surface bodies. It is impossible to determine the type of barn moth by the appearance of the larvae, but one thing saves you - the fight can be carried out using the same means, so the species is not important.

Normal development of this species occurs under certain conditions:

• air temperature up to +25°C;
• air humidity is about 50%.

The life cycle of a food moth is about one and a half months. This time period includes all stages of insect development.

Chestnut moth

The modern market is replete with a variety of insecticides for these pests, but it is worth remembering that some species are able to quickly develop immunity and continue to reproduce intensively.

The house moth is a type of moth. It not only renders food unusable, but also causes significant damage to furniture upholstery, wool and fur products. If spoiled products can be thrown away and replaced with new ones, without significant financial costs.

Damaged wool and fur items mean serious material damage. To timely identify and get rid of the pest, you need to know the appearance of clothes and furniture moths, modern methods protection from it.

Representatives of the butterfly family, the clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) or furniture moth (Tineola furciferella) are small size insects that differ from each other in the colors of their wings and food preferences.

When adults are at rest, their wings are tightly compressed, in this position they resemble a food pest. For effective disposal from clothes moth you need to know it distinctive features Depending on the grocery store, the methods of dealing with them will be different. The clothing and food moths in the photo differ in size and color.

Another sign by which you can determine the identity of the pest is the location of the flight. Each species will be found near a corresponding food source. Furniture and clothes lights also have visual differences between themselves.

The diet of this species consists of cotton products. The adult does not cause harm, since it does not feed, it has other tasks, and the adult is responsible for the continuation of the population. The pests flying around the apartment are male representatives. In females, the flight apparatus is not fully developed, although wings are present.

A sexually mature individual reaches a length of up to 8 mm, the color of the wings is light yellow plain along the entire length. The edge of the wing is framed with fringe. Leads an exclusively nocturnal lifestyle. During the daytime, it hides on the walls, doors of a wardrobe or dressing room.

Furniture moth

There are characteristic signs to know how to distinguish furniture moths and clothes moths. Mature individuals will be the same in size. But the wool moth (furniture moth) has a darker color. The color of the wings is light gray with a more saturated color at the base. There may be a scattering of black spots on the surface.

This representative is much more dangerous than its fellow species due to its food preferences. The diet is not only furniture upholstery, the pest spoils fur products, carpets and rugs.

Prefers wool and felt products. If there is a lack of usual food, the larvae can feed on textiles made of cotton and flax. Clothes moths can be found in food products.

A pest that feeds on fur, wool or cotton is usually defined by one term - “clothes moth”. Its life cycle is no different from other species of moth.

The development and reproduction of clothes moths occurs in four stages:

1. A clutch of eggs, which is up to 250 pieces. They are yellow, oval in shape, up to 0.4 mm in size. Moth eggs are concentrated in one place, less often they are fixed in a certain area, several dozen at a time.
2. The appearance of larvae, up to 1.5 mm in size, light yellow in color. At this stage, the offspring feed intensively, leaving behind a trail of cobwebs mixed with waste products. It is this stage of the moth that causes harm. After 45 days, from the material used for food, it creates a cocoon for itself, in which it passes to the next stage - the pupa.
3. The pest remains in the pupated state for up to 4 weeks, its body length is within 6 centimeters, and its color ranges from white to the color characteristic of an adult butterfly.
4. The final stage is the appearance of a sexually mature individual (imago).

On the third day of life, the adult is fertilized and lays eggs. The reproduction process lasts from 2–4 weeks, then the adult dies. The population replenishes at room temperature throughout the year, continuing to destroy things and furnishings suitable for food. The cycle from egg to adult butterfly is 35 days.

The main source of food for the clothing pest is natural materials containing keratin.

Protein is found in the following items:

• wool products;
• knitted threads;
• natural fur (fur coats, collars, hats, sheepskin coats, winter shoe insulation);
• carpets made of woolen material;
• furniture upholstery;
• cotton fabrics.

If the colony is large and measures to eliminate it are not taken in time, then the larvae can cause quite significant harm. Damage to fur and wool products will be irreversible. On natural fur coats, the pest leaves noticeable “bald spots” and eats woolen items to holes.

Carpets are damaged in closed places (under furniture). Fabric upholstery, wears down to holes at the bends and joints of the fragments. The moth caterpillars prefer polluted places with the smell of human body secretions and epithelial remains.

How to protect yourself from a pest

If the presence of a harmful moth in the apartment left no doubt and traces of caterpillars were found in the form of damaged clothing, then it is necessary to take urgent measures to get rid of the butterfly.

To destroy it, it is necessary to determine the location where clothes moths accumulate; the following recommendations will help you find and get rid of them:

1. If there is a dog or cat living in the room, moths may be caused by hairballs. It is necessary to look everywhere where the animal happens, right down to the baseboards.
2. Remove all contents from the wardrobe and carefully examine the shelves, doors, and walls. You may well “meet” an adult female.
3. Reconsider outerwear(under the collar, in sleeve cuffs, fasteners), which is of food interest to the pest. Explore woolen items that are little used (socks, gloves, knitted hats, sweaters, dresses).
4. Give special attention balls of woolen yarn, felt products, felt shoes.
5. Reconsider inner part sofas, armchairs and beds. Do not ignore carpets and rugs.

Chemicals

Aerosols, tablets, crayons, fumigators containing chemical elements, are designed to effectively get rid of adult individuals and larvae of the thing moth.

Proven means to combat clothes moths include:

1. Aerosols " Clean house", " ", " ", "Extramit". How and what to process will be indicated in the recommendations for the drug.
2. Fumigators "", "DiK-3" - must be connected to power and placed in a wardrobe.
3. Tablets "Dezmol", "Antimol-effect" - have pleasant smell, which repels insects. They can be placed in all places where moths may accumulate for prevention.
4. Crayons “Home”, “” - are well suited for treating areas where clothes moths accumulate.
5. Adhesive tapes "", "Aerokson", "Natural Control". They are impregnated with a special enzyme that attracts males; after the destruction of the male individual, reproduction becomes impossible.

If possible, ultraviolet treatment with special lamps will be effective. The larvae will die at temperatures above 30 degrees.

High and low temperatures

During the cold season, it is necessary to ventilate the room. Take clothes, rugs and carpets out into the cold. The larvae will die and the growth of the colony will stop.

Wash clothes at temperatures above 60 degrees. If high temperature It is not recommended for the product; steam treatment.

You can donate things for dry cleaning- this is one hundred percent death of the larvae. IN summer time you can hang winter clothes under straight sun rays. This method is good for both prevention and death of caterpillars.

Traditional methods

If you have noticed a clothes moth, you should know how to get rid of it using traditional methods, if application chemicals impossible.

1. Pack dry lavender into several gauze bags and place it in the pest’s habitat.
2. A geranium flower located near a wardrobe will scare away the female with its smell and she will not be able to lay eggs.
3. Orange peels containing essential oils, it is necessary to arrange them on the shelves where things are stored. The smell is unacceptable to the moth; it will stay away from it. The zest must be periodically replaced with fresh zest.