Moths are a huge problem and can cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage to your clothes and home furnishings. Unfortunately they have very expensive tastes and love to eat cashmere, angora, silk, wool and even leather items.
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Don’t wait until they have ruined your treasured possessions, contact us and we can offer you a wide range of moth, moth egg, and larvae killer as well as expert advice and storage solutions.
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Moths: eggs, larvae and why they attack your clothes
Signs of clothes moths will present themselves as either damage to clothing such as irregular holes, or you’ll discover the eggs, larvae or adult moths themselves.
Clothing damage most frequently occurs in knitwear but also occurs in silk and even leather garments. The amount of damage will depend on how long moth larvae have been left undisturbed to eat the protein based fibres and whether there are any stains or moisture, for example residue from perspiration present on the garments.
What does moth damage look like?
Clothing moth damage can occur in drawers, wardrobes and cupboards – moths are indiscriminate. Very often the presence of moth damage is not visible before cleaning as the larvae have eaten the substrate of the fabric, weakened the structure, and in the cleaning process these now loose fibres and fibre debris are removed from the surface revealing the hole left by their ferocious eating habits.
What am I looking for?
Spotting the presence of moths in their 3 different forms requires vigilance. Moth eggs are only 0.5mm long and their larvae, the stage where they do the eating, are around 2mm+ long. Adult moths are usually 1.5cm long and are obviously easier to spot in flight, however due to their size they are able to hide in tight crevices in storage areas.
Very often the silken web larvae weave over themselves makes them unnoticeable, and even if seen can be easily mistaken for soil or staining. Once this is removed by cleaning the damage caused is then revealed. Regular cleaning of garments and furnishings will prevent eggs from hatching and remove larvae, stopping them from causing more damage. Correct storage of cleaned items is also important as is prevention of infestation by a suitable moth repellent and cleaning of suspect areas that may harbour egg deposits.
Where should I look?
Clothing moths prefer to lay their eggs in dark, undisturbed areas, therefore check corners of drawers and wardrobes, skirting boards and around door architraves. Due to central heating the breeding cycle has extended year round and signs of moth problems may present themselves at any time of the year. Even if your house is cold at any one particular time, it will only slow the lifecyle stage, extending the damaging larvae stage.
What’s their lifecycle?
Female moths lay clusters of eggs in batches of between 30 and 200 which adhere to surfaces with a gelatine-like glue. These eggs then hatch between 4 to 10 days later into near-microscopic white caterpillars which immediately begin their feeding cycle. At this larval stage they spin mats under which to feed without being readily noticed and from which they will partially emerge at night, or under dark conditions, to search for food.
Development to the next stage takes place between one month and two years until the pupae stage is reached. At this point, the caterpillars spin cocoons and spend another approximately 10 to 50 days developing into adults. After pupation is complete, the adult months emerge and begin searching for mates.
Females tend to move less than males, and both sexes prefer scuttling over surfaces to flying, with some adults never flying at all. Adult moths can live for 15 to 30 days, after which they die, otherwise death takes place shortly after mating for males and shortly after egg laying for females.
Their lifecycle may be completed within one month under the most favourable conditions, which is 24°C and at 70-75% relative humidity but this may take several years. Lower temperatures and humidity will only slow development; larvae will still hatch and grow at temperatures as low as 10°C and can survive up to 33°C.
Adult moths do not feed as they will have acquired all of the nutrition and moisture they need while in the larval stage, once they hatch from cocoons their only goal is to reproduce.
The overall lifecycle from egg to egg typically takes 4 to 6 months, with two generations per year.