What Moths Eat Your Clothes

Keep these items in the freezer for at least 24 hours to make sure any larvae are killed off.

What moths eat your clothes. It may be gross enough to discover that moths have eaten a hole through your favorite cashmere sweater but get this its not actually the moths that eat your clothes but their slimy larvae. The tineola bisselliella or clothes moths and the tinea pellionella or casemaking clothes moth are two such species. Keep an eye on your sweaters and other wool clothes for signs of moths and be diligent. Do moths eat clothes.

The larvae feed on natural fibres such as cashmere. Wash clothes that contain larvae or eggs. Many people are under the impression that the adult moths named above are the culprits when it comes to the holes in cashmere cardigans or wool jackets. It might come as a surprise to learn that the moth itself does not eat clothes and cause the damage but the moths larvae.

Moths are destructive no doubt but they dont actually eat your clothestheir babies do. In fact clothing moths dont even possess the ability to eat they dont have a mouth. This means targeting clothing that contains materials that will feed their. These clothing are usually those that the female moth thinks are suitable for her offspring.

There are primarily only two species of moths that damage clothes in the usthe webbing clothes moth and the casemaking clothes moth. Adult moths lack the mouthparts needed to eat your clothing lint. A female moth lays a mass of fertilized eggs that can range from 50 to 1000 eggs onto a piece of clothing or on host plants. Both are members of the family tineidae bisselliella.

The common clothes moth clothing moth or to give its street name tineola bisselliella doesnt actually eat clothes. Freeze any clothes or belongings that show signs of moths. Moths hate light and movement so keep your closet open air it out regularly and move clothes around. According to blake newton an extension entomologist at the university of kentucky moths lay eggs on fabrics caterpillars hatch from those eggs and then the caterpillars munch on the clothing.

Cotton clothing happens to be one of the favorites of moths so if you notice something eating only your cotton clothes it may be from moth larvae damage. Since moths are a common pest of clothing many people assume their torn up clothing comes from a moth. Once they become a moth rather than waste their time eating they simply mate the female lays her eggs and then they.