Food moth in your home

Food moth is a pest adapted to life at the expense of man. Spoil products voracious larvaeeating everything related to groceries. Butterflies do not eat at all because of the lack of a mouthpart.

What does food moth look like?

The name food moth unites all barn pests from the family of fireplugs. Outwardly, they differ significantly from each other, but there are common features of the structure for all. The main features are the following:

• small sizes;
• discreet appearance;
• sensitive antennae;
• furry body;
• fringe along the edges of the wings;
• big eyes.

As a rule, with spread wings, the size of these insects does not exceed 1 cm. There is a picture on the wings, each species has its own. The butterfly does not have an oral apparatus. However, their larvae are quite voracious, gnawing even the hardest shell of cereals.

Outwardly, all larvae of food moths are similar to each other. They have a white or yellowish color, a darker head and a trunk up to 1.5 cm long, divided into segments. There are also tenacious paws that facilitate the movement of insects. Pupae are darker in color and slightly smaller than larvae in size.

Interesting fact! The larva of food moth is capable of gnawing polyethylene and cling film, however, thick paper and cardboard are too tough for her!

Development cycle

Ognevki belong to insects with a full development cycle. Before becoming an adult, the larvae go through 3 stages:

• the eggs
• dolls
• butterflies.

In favorable conditions, the entire life cycle does not exceed 2 months. Let us consider in more detail all periods of development and the characteristics of the breeding of food moths.

Breeding

Food moth in an adult state lives no more than a week. They are not adapted by nature for a longer existence. They have no mouth, and the digestive system has undergone significant metamorphoses.

Immediately after exiting the pupa, the butterflies mate, releasing pheromones into the air, attracting sexual partners. After that, the account goes on days. Males die soon after copulation. Females are looking for a suitable place for laying eggs. It may turn out to be a linen sack with flour, an open jar of groats, or even a forgotten box of chocolates dusting on the mezzanines.

In total, the female is able to lay more than a hundred eggs. So that offspring do not suffer from crowding, she makes several clutches, distributing eggs in several places. Soon after the last egg is laid, the female’s life path ends and she dies.

This is what an adult food moth looks like:

Development

The larva hatched from eggs immediately begins to actively feed. In order to become an adult, she needs to gain a certain weight. As a rule, she does not move much, crawling from place to place only in search of food. Immediately before pupation, it crawls out of the feed substrate, looking for a suitable place for subsequent metamorphosis.

The entire period of development from an egg to a pupa takes 1.5 weeks. During this time, the larvae grow to 1.5 cm in length and gain sufficient weight for further development. As a rule, it is during this period that moths reveal themselves, as they begin to move actively, preparing themselves for adulthood.The rest of the time they are practically invisible, especially if they are in flour.

In the body of the pupa, the insect spends only a few days. During this time, deep changes occur in his body, turning a clumsy thick larva into an elegant butterfly. The adult individual emerging from the chrysalis is fully ready to fulfill its duty to nature - to continue its race.

Advice! In order not to accidentally bake pies with meat, instead of the planned apple, flour is sifted with a fine sieve before kneading the dough.

Life features

Favorable conditions for the development of insects - a temperature of about 25 ⁰C and relative humidity of about 50%. With a decrease in air temperature, the development of larvae slows down and sometimes can be delayed for several months.

In one single insect population, approximately two generations of moles are replaced per year. Due to its fertility, this pest actively populates large areas in a relatively short time.

The distribution area of ​​these insects is quite wide. Their larvae can be found wherever there is something to profit from. Food moth is able to withstand short-term heat and cold. However, for its development, it chooses warm, moist, rich in food places.

Moth harm

Despite its more than modest size, food moth is a pest. Harm to humans is not so noticeable if the insect population is small. However, with its growth, the losses caused by this cute butterfly grow in proportion.

The main harm is caused by larvae that cause the following damage:

• spoilage of products;
• decrease in their quality;
• weight loss of products.

Croup spoiled by moth cannot be eaten, as it is practically impossible to remove larvae from it. It becomes difficult to sell the eaten cereal, as buyers bypass such a product, being afraid to bring the pest into their home. Flour can be sifted, however, in the conditions of food plants it is almost impossible.

Due to its resemblance to a clothes moth, a firebox is often reproached for spoiling things. What does food moth eat and does he eat clothes in the absence of the usual food? Such allegations are unfounded. These insects eat only groceries and do not lay eggs on clothes. The myth of the omnivorous food moth is easily explained by its resemblance to the moth. These insects are often adjacent to each other.
If you want to learn how to distinguish food moles from clothes moles, an article will come to the rescue https://beetles.bigbadmole.com/en/foto-moli/.
Now it's time to raise the question: How to get rid of food moth? After all, from discovering on your the kitchen of this parasite, no one is insured! Confirmation of this - the video below. It captures the shocking facts of the discovery of food moth larvae in a pasta package purchased at a well-known supermarket.