Exterminate pest guide for
clothes moths
Beware of Clothes Moths Or Carpet Moths!
As soon as the weather warms up, moths start emerging fully grown and looking for a mate. Moth mating season is when you will notice moths most. Moth hatching season is when the eggs hatch and larvae begin to eat through your clothes in dark, quiet places.
However, if moths are emerging in your home, there is a good chance that your natural fibre clothing has already been damaged. Adult moths do not eat. Their sole purpose is to mate and lay eggs. It's the larvae that are responsible for damage to your clothes. The eggs of Clothes Moths will hatch, eat through clothing, make a cocoon, and then emerge when the next season starts, which could be in two months or in a year.
There are several species of clothes moths, all of them characterised by folding their wings tent-wise along their backs. The adult Common Clothes Moth is 6 to 7mm long with pale, plain golden-buff wings fringed with hair. The rarer Case-Bearing Clothes Moth is duller and has three dark brown spots on each of its wings.
The adults do no damage when feeding. It is the larvae which hatch from the sticky eggs that eat wool, hair, fur or feathers - with a preference for blankets, wool carpets, wool garments or upholstery that have been soiled with perspiration or food. The grubs are white caterpillars with golden-brown heads, which spin a hiding place of characteristic loose silk webbing, beneath which they feed.
Clothes Moth Larvae are small and can be difficult to spot, especially if they are really tiny, having recently hatched from the microscopic eggs, enmeshed in garments with a loose weave, have made their way to the inside surfaces of garments, or have eaten their way deeply into the fabric (if left undisturbed for a long time).
The perfect environment for a clothes moth infestation would be a dark, dusty, undisturbed, closet with animal-based natural fibre clothing. Often closets in spare bedrooms and attics are prime clothes moth breeding locations.
Also critical to clothes moth larvae is moisture, even very low amounts. Perspiration on recently worn garments that are placed back in closets, human scent, drinks spilled on clothing etc are all further attractions to the female clothes moth in deciding where to lay her eggs for the subsequent larvae to hatch.
If You Suspect Clothes Moths Are Infesting Your Property Contact Exterminate.ie Pest Control Solutions - 0852635994
successful pest treatment of
clothes & carpet moths