Domestic Pests - Moth Larvae

Larvae of a moth are only one of the stages in the development of a small gray butterfly from the order Lepidoptera. Adult insects do not feed, since they are deprived of the oral apparatus, however, voracious caterpillars are hatched from eggs laid by them. They lead a sedentary lifestyle, and it is rather difficult to notice them.

The moment of truth comes only when we take our clothes out of the closet or pour cereal into the pan. An unpleasant sight of swarming larvae is capable of discouraging anyone’s appetite, and a spoiled thing has to be thrown into the bin. In order to avoid this turn of events, it is necessary to study the enemy, which is called “in person,” to find out what he is afraid of and, guided by the knowledge gained, to choose the best methods of struggle.

Species features

There are several types of domestic moths - food and clothes. Food larvae feed on groceries and clothes larvae on wool and fur. Outwardly, it is difficult to distinguish them, but there are some features that make this possible.

Food moth

So, what does the moth larva look like? In food moths, they look like small white or translucent worms with a dark head and six pairs of short legs. Four of them are located on the abdominal part of the body, and two pairs are located on the first two segments. In length, they often reach two centimeters, and the thickness depends on the type of food that the caterpillar fed on. The richer the feed with fats, the thicker and more nutritious the larva will be, and vice versa.
The food moth caterpillar eats only groceries. She will not touch the woolen things and furniture, so if you find larvae in flour, then you should not worry about a fur coat or sweaters, unless, of course, you have two species living at the same time.

A sample list of foods that can be chosen by food moth:

• flour
• groats
• nuts
• sunflower seeds
• dried fruits
• pasta
• biscuit
• candies.

Anything that contains carbohydrates is suitable for larvae. Their powerful jaws are able to cope with the hardest surfaces and the shell of the grains is not an obstacle for them.

Larvae can be detected by the following characteristic traces:

• grains glued by a web;
• lumps in flour or small cereals;
• eaten tunnels filled with insect excrement;
• discarded skins.

If you try to break a lump or cocoon from cobwebs and grains, then inside you will find a larva, which in this way hid from human eyes. Caterpillars also hardly move, and you can find them purely by accident, often already in the plate served on the table.

Larvae of food moths can be found wherever they have food and suitable development conditions. This is a cosmopolitan insect that has spread throughout the world. They can be found at grain processing enterprises, in public catering establishments, warehouses, utility rooms of shops and similar places. In nature, food moth caterpillars eat cereals, fruits and seeds of plants.

Advice! A plastic film is not an obstacle for moth caterpillars, however they cannot gnaw through foil packaging, glass, metal and wood.So food is best kept in glass jars with tin lids.

Clothes moth

The larvae of the body moth are very similar to the food caterpillars, with one exception - you will not find them in the kitchen. They only eat what keratin is in - the protein found in the epidermis of the skin - hair, wool, feather, fluff. In a human dwelling, the caterpillars of a clothes moth most often choose the following things as food:

• woolen sweaters;
• Carpets
• fur coats;
• down jackets;
• upholstery;
• felt products;
• edges made of natural material.

Wardrobe moth is often also called wool, furniture or fur coat, depending on the location of its larvae. Like caterpillars of food moths, they build their houses from improvised means - wool, hairs, and down. The larva hiding in such a cocoon is difficult to notice. The following signs can issue it:

• holes on clothes;
• fur bald spots;
• oblong cocoon spools;
• tunnels-moves on the upholstery of furniture and carpets.

Even shoes are at risk of being eaten if they are made of felt or sewn from fur. Often attacked by moles are felt boots and felt insoles.

A clothes moth, like a food moth, is ubiquitous. Under natural conditions, caterpillars feed on the fallen hair of animals in places of their rookeries or burrows, feathers of birds in the nests.

Advice! Winter things are best stored in special canvas covers, or wrapped in a cloth soaked with moth repellents. From time to time it is necessary to carry out an audit and shake up clothes, otherwise, due to the fault of a clothes moth, you can be left without a fur coat and boots by winter.

Development and reproduction

A caterpillar or larva of a domestic moth passes through several stages of molting before becoming a chrysalis. The time through which pupation occurs depends on the external conditions and the type of butterfly. So, for example, the larvae of food moths develop faster than the caterpillars of the clothes, as their diet is much richer. They are able to go all the way in 4-5 weeks. Moreover, the higher the temperature, the faster they will grow. Under the same conditions, caterpillars of a clothes moth will need 2-3 months to develop.

For pupation, larvae choose dark and inaccessible places, only some types of food moths are selected from cabinets into the light. Pupae have sizes from 6 to 9 mm. Their outer integuments acquire a darker color than caterpillars and harden. Under the protection of this shell, the whole next stage of the transformation of the pupa into a butterfly will take place.

After 1-2 weeks, a gray, inconspicuous butterfly will appear from a case suspended from the cabinet. Her life will be short-lived - about 2-3 weeks. During this time, she should have time to mate with her sexual partner, find food suitable for feeding the larvae and leave offspring.

Moth eggs are so small that they are hard to see with the naked eye. In length, they do not exceed 0.5 mm. As a rule, eggs are white and oval. Under favorable conditions, the larvae hatch in a week. A newborn caterpillar has a body length of about 1 mm and a transparent skin. As it grows, it increases in size and acquires a darker color.

Interesting fact! Moths fluttering around the apartment, as a rule, are all males. Females prefer to hide in the folds of clothes and on the shelves of kitchen cabinets. They rarely fly into the air after fertilization, so all our efforts to eradicate harmful insects flying around the house do not bring results.

Control measures

What to do to protect your home from gluttonous pests? How to get rid of moth larvae? In order to combat them led to the expected result, it is necessary to perform a number of the following actions:

1. It is necessary to conduct an audit on the shelves immediately, as soon as you see a fluttering moth in your apartment, as this pest reproduces quite quickly.One mole can lay about 400 eggs in its life, and the whole development cycle, under favorable conditions, can be completed in one month. Moreover, reproduction can continue all year round. Imagine now how many caterpillars one vagrant butterfly spawns and how many products and things its descendants will spoil.
2. If caterpillars are found in foods, they must be discarded immediately. Or, if the larvae are few, you should sort out the cereals, sift the flour through a sieve, and then calcine in the oven at a temperature above 50 ⁰C for 30 minutes Clothing and clothes in which the larvae of a moth wound up are best washed at 60 ⁰C. If this is not possible, they must be shaken out and thoroughly fried in the sun.
   
3. It is necessary to carry out pest control aimed at the destruction of flying butterflies. Aerosol formulations specifically designed for pest control are best suited for this. The same facilities used to get rid of the larvae of the moth.
4. Wash the cabinets with soapy water, and wipe all the cracks with vinegar. Furniture and carpets should be thoroughly vacuumed.

When all these conditions are fulfilled, it is possible to get rid of the domestic moth and its larvae rather quickly, and in order to prevent this pest from entering your home, the following preventive measures must be observed:

• keep food in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids;
• do not make large stocks of cereals, flour, pasta and the like;
• check products before purchase for larvae;
• close the ventilation ducts with a fine mesh;
• in packages with winter clothes and shoes put butterflies repellents - naphthalene, odorous herbs, pieces of laundry soap.

Advice! Disinsection measures against butterflies and moth larvae must be carried out in one day, otherwise new insects will emerge from the caterpillars left in the croup and all efforts will go to waste. Particularly thoroughly necessary to inspect the room for detection of pupae. They will have to be collected and destroyed manually, since most chemicals do not take them.

You can find out how the larva of the moth looks and moves from this video: