Clothes moth species name. Tinea pellionella the case bearing clothes moth. Wings are uniformly gray without dark spots. They shun light and hide in dark areas laying batches of eggs on wool fur feathers and skins. Herrich schaeffer when he established tineola.
Adult webbing clothes moths are a uniform buff color with a small tuft of reddish hairs on top of the head. Two different types of clothes moths are common in north america the webbing clothes moth tineola bisselliella and the casemaking clothes moth tinea pellionella. Adults are 8 10 mm long. Its scientific name is derived from tinea a generic term for micromoths and the latin term for a furrier pellionellus.
The caterpillars of both species are yellowish white. The female will lay her eggs close to a source of food. Clothes moths are often confused with indian meal moths but the two are actually very different primarily in the materials on which they feed and the places they are found. The larva grows up to 10 mm long when fully grown.
These moths are small only 58 mm long and scuttle around only flying when its warm. This species is widely found throughout north america to southern ontario and further in panama mexico and eastern united states. Tinea pellionella the case bearing clothes moth is a species of tineoid moth in the family tineidae the fungus moths. They are the webbing clothes moth and the case bearing moth.
It is the type species of the genus tinea which in turn is the type genus of the subfamily family as well as the superfamily tineoidea. Tineola bisselliella the common clothes moth or webbing clothes moth. This species has a cosmopolitan distribution occurring nearly worldwide. There are two main moth species that cause most of the damage to clothing and home textiles.
There are two species of clothes moths that are commonly found in homes in the us. Tineola bisselliella known as the common clothes moth webbing clothes moth or simply clothing moth is a species of fungus moth family tineidae subfamily tineinaeit is the type species of its genus tineola and was first described by arvid david hummel in 1823. Clothes moth or clothing moth is the common name for several species of moth considered to be pests whose larvae eat animal fibres hairs including clothing and other fabrics. But the common or webbing clothes moth tineola bisselliella is one of the most aggressive species and can be found across the world.
Wings are dark yellow to golden and the head has reddish hairs. As indicated by its name its larvae will eat clothes or carpets made of wool or other natural materials but you can deter them from households. The specific name is commonly misspelled biselliella for example by g. Webbing clothes moth common clothes moth the webbing clothes moth tineola bisselliella is also known as the common clothes moth or simply clothing moth.