Clothes Moth Larvae Uk

Clothes moths have a life cycle of 65 to 90 days during which time they can lay 40 to 50 eggs.

Clothes moth larvae uk.

This months news article takes a look at how you can prevent becoming a victim or casualty in the war with clothes moths and how you can improve your clothes moths pest control strategies. The beginning of the clothes moth lifecycle adult female moths can lay 100 400 eggs over their short life and these eggs are tiny typically 0 5mm in length. It s their larvae that cause the damage. The larvae that hatch from the eggs of clothes moths spin silk webbing into a tunnel across the attacked material.

In houses up and down the uk there is a war being waged against clothes. But it s actually the larvae not the moths which cause the damage. Tineola bisselliella known as the common clothes moth webbing clothes moth or simply clothing moth is a species of fungus moth family tineidae subfamily tineinae it is the type species of its genus tineola and was first described by arvid david hummel in 1823. Dr chris terrell nield says a few uk species can breed in houses including the brown house moth the case bearing clothes moth and the common clothes moth.

They then begin to eat the fibres in the material which causes holes in clothes or loss of pile in patches on carpets. The common clothes moth tineola bisselliella has been blamed for munching its way into homes across britain. It lives in a silken tube and when gregarious this can develop into a dense matting. Clothes moth eggs and larvae are near microscopic propagate rapidly and even camouflage themselves in a fibre woven casing to make themselves even harder to spot.

The larva as its vernacular name suggests feeds on woollen clothing upholstery and carpets as well as other animal based material such as hair or fur. The specific name is commonly misspelled biselliella for example by g. The tineidae family of butterflies or clothes moths can be a real nuisance at times. This is because a few years ago the eu banned certain strong and toxic chemicals which were used.

Moths themselves don t actually munch on fabrics they nest in it. The moths are more or less continuously brooded except during the winter months. Brushing clothes and dry cleaning both help but it s nearly impossible to eliminate infestation entirely through such methods. The newly emerged larvae are about 1mm long but grow up to 12mm.

Clothes moths have been on the rampage in the uk and especially in london in the last few years. There are plenty of things in our homes for clothes moth larvae to feast on.