Casemaking Clothes Moth

casemaking moth

Adult Case Making Clothes Moth
(Actual Size 1/2 Inch)

Description:

Clothes moths have a complete metamorphosis. That means they have an egg, larvae, pupa and adult stage just like a butterfly. Adults are unable to feed and it is the larvae stage, which are small cream-colored caterpillars with brown head capsules, that damage fabrics. In houses, they are most frequently pests of clothing, carpets, rugs, upholstery fabrics, piano felts, brush bristles, blankets, hair from pets, furs, lint from woolens, and any stored wool or silk products. These products all contain the animal derived protein keratin.

Adult casemaking clothes moths are approximately 3/8- to 1/2-inch from wing tip to wing tip, and are slightly smaller than webbing clothes moths.
The wings and body are buff to golden with a brown tinge and the front wings have three dark spots,
but these distinguishing characteristics are often rubbed off.

The larvae are small caterpillars (3/8-inch long) that live within a small portable, silken case which they carry as they
feed. The larvae have dark head capsules and the first thoracic segment (leg segment) is dark brown or black. Biology:

Females begin laying eggs (37-48) singly on suitable larval food the day after emergence as an adult.
The larva feeds for about 33-90 days and molts 5-11 times.
The mature larva then finds a sheltered place to pupate.
The insect pupates within the silken larval case.
Developmental time (egg to adult) requires 46-116 days.
The casemaking clothes moth is usually more common in the southern states where there are two generations per year.
Adults may lay eggs year around in the northern states but have only one generation per year.

Why Clothes Moths Eat Clothes

Fabric-destroying insects cause much damage each year by eating vulnerable fabrics. Materials which are readily infested include sweaters, coats, upholstery, piano felts, blankets and any other woolen products. Furs, hair, leathers and hides, feathers, horns, insect and animal collections and such stored foods as meat, fish, meal and milk products are also vulnerable to these insects. Synthetic fibers and cellulose materials are damaged only incidentally, often because they are soiled with greasy food stains, body oils, or other residues which are the primary object of the insect attack.

Fabric pests are a pest nuisance because of their ability to digest and utilize keratin as an energy source. Keratin is the chief protein constituent of such human tissues as hair, fingernails and skin. In other mammals, keratin is the chief structural protein in horns, hoofs, and feathers. Keratin is a protein which is quite stable chemically and is very resistant to most means of digestion. Few animals are able to digest keratin, and these include only a relatively small number of insects. This peculiar ability to digest keratin, coupled with our widespread use of wool and other animal hair, is the basis of fabric pest problems in our societies.

Other insects such as Silverfish can damage fabrics, but do not digest keratin.

Habits:

The casemaking clothes moth prefers products of animal origin, secondarily feeding on products of plant origin.

Moths digest keratin, the protein of which hair, horns, nails, claws, hoofs, feathers, and scales of reptiles, birds, and mammals are formed. All of these make up natural clothing that we wear. Moths also attack a wide variety of other natural materials and even some synthetic ones. they often use paper, starch, cotton or silk to build cocoons

It is a pest of woolens, rugs, feather, felts, skins, spices, drugs, furs, taxidermy mounts, and stored tobacco. The larva remains within the case at all times and dies if removed. It can turn completely around without leaving the case and can feed from either end. Adults do not feed, it is the larvae that does the feeding.Such pieces aas museum pieces, wall mountings, furs, taxidermy mounts, etc., might require vaults fumigation or treatment with a dust formulation.

Damage done:

Cigar-shaped cases( 1/16- 3/8-inch( size depending on larval stage) usually attached to fabric at one end.

Cases are white or the a slight color of the fabric infested. If cases are absent,damage is recognized by as surface feeding in irregular furrows, or if severe ,complete holes.

casemaking larvae

Case Making Clothes Moth Larvae
(Actual Size - 3/4 inch)

Rodents will cause other types of damage: pulled threads and cut fabric

Inspection:

A complete inspection is necessary before beginning any control measures.

It is important to remember that adults to not cause the damage, but the larvae do.The presence of adults in an area, doesn't mean that larvae are nearby, in that they may have laid their eggs in another room, and the adults are randomly moving around.
The adults like to fly towards light.
The larvae of both clothes moths and the beetles prefer to feed in secluded, hidden places.
Using a flash light and a small spatula may be necessary to seek out the larvae.
The larvae may be found in dark clothes in closets, furs, woolens, and carpet bits, or other material in storage.
They can also be found in lint and animal hair found under baseboards, edges of carpeting, under upholstered furniture, under edges of carpets, in air ducts, and occasionally in stored products in the pantry like cereals.
The use of a knife blade or spatula will help examine the lint closely for live larvae or cast skins.
It is important to consider natural sources when making an inspection, such as woolens.
Larvae are often attracted to soiled fabrics (such as clothing soiled with body oil or perspiration) and cracks and crevices where lint, food crumbs or dead insects accumulate.
Clothes moths dislike direct sunlight. Moths cannot complete their normal life cycle on clean, processed wool. It must be contaminated with some nutritional supplement such as food, beverage, sweat or urine stains. Such stains provide the proteins, the mineral salts and the vitamin B complex essential to the moth.
Carpet beetle larvae may also feed on stored cereals, dry pet food and wool piano felts.

Carpet beetle infestations are more likely to be discovered because of the damage they do, not because large populations are being found.
Although larva and adults are easily killed, eggs and pupa are not.
Look for articles of woolen clothing which may have been stored and neglected, and check the premises for old furniture and rugs which may be a source of a continuing infestation.
Other important areas of concern may be include sites which represent the natural habitat of these insects. Sparrow, starling, or other bird nests, inside or outside of the premises, are common points of origin.
Bird nests in fireplaces and attics can be common sites.
Wasp nests which are found under eaves and in attics are also common sources of carpet beetle and clothes moth infestations.
Another source of food material for carpet beetle and clothes moth larvae is accumulations of animal hair which may be found quite often in homes where pets are kept.
Shed hair may accumulate in heating ducts, beneath furniture, or in hard-to-clean corners.
These loose tangles of hair may be sufficient to sustain a small population of fabric pests
for a long period of time, even in places where all wool products might have been treated.

Prevention and Sanitation:

Prevention is important in fabric pest.
It is important to frequently and thoroughly vacuum carpet and upholstery, and dry clean susceptible clothing such as the woolens.
To not store discarded garments, fur or animal pelts, old wool rugs, feather pillows, or such vulnerable fabrics for long.
Soiled fabrics such as synthetic fibers can also be attacked by these insects.
Other potential sites can be dried flower arrangements, or decorative items with "seeds" in them.
Baseboards, behind door casings,under heat radiators, and inside furnace or air conditioning registers should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.
In garment bags or storage boxes , moth balls would work fine.
Moth balls( napthalene )can work as continuous repellent, but most be in a stored, sealed container.
Recommended rates for PDB are 1.0-1.25 lb. active ingredient per 100 cu. ft. of storage space.
Cedar chests or cedar closets don't work well, because a sufficiently tight seal is rarely maintained.
Cold vaults for garment storage would be effective for valuable furs.

Control Measures:

Storage in tight containers
Stored clothing should be kept in tightly closed containers after cleaning them.
Removal of animal nests.
Fabric-damaging pests such as clothes moths sometimes move into homes from the abandoned nests of birds, rodents, bats, bees, and wasps. These sources should be located and removed. Rats and mice should be eliminated. The preferred manner for treating rodents is by trapping. If poisoned rodents die in inaccessible places, their carcasses can become food sources for fabric pests and flies.
Vacuuming and Cleaning

Look for places that debris collects ; under furniture that is rarely moved, along baseboards, in cracks between floorboards, and wherever debris collects. Also clean in closets where fabric items, furs, and feather-filled materials are stored, and inside and behind heaters, vents, and ducts.
Cleaning fabrics.
Clothes moths are attracted to the food, beverage, and sweat stains in woolens and other materials, not to the wool itself. It is important that garments are cleanedthoroughly before being stored.

Inspection

A complete inspection of the closets and other areas is the first order of business. The soiled garments, particularly woolens need to be dry cleaned or laundered.

After the inspection, critical areas should receive the special attention. The insecticides will kill exposed adults and larvae. In carpets, it would be around the baseboards. In furniture it would be around the buttons, zippers and seams.
After vacuuming cracks and crevices in the closets , an aerosol MicroCare Aerosol a residual pryethrin aerosol ,with a crack and crevice tip , sprayed in the cracks and crevices, to kill the adult moths .
You will need 2-4 treatments spaced about 3 weeks apart, due to the nature of their cycles.

Infested rugs, carpets, and furniture should be cleaned thoroughly and protected with a residual insecticide application.

A recommended residual insecticide would be D Fense SC.

d fense D-Fense SC Insecticide or D-Fense Dust would be a good choice for spot treatments.

Sensitive items, such as museum pieces, wall mountings, furs, taxidermy mounts, etc., might require vaults fumigation or treatment with temperature control. Major pest control companies do have chambers for this type of control.

Always keep pets and children off the wet surface until it dries.

Prevention is the best control.

Thorough vacuum cleaning of rugs and furniture removes lint and pet hair as well as some of the larvae.

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