Tiny Caterpillars That Carry Their Cocoons

Casemaking Clothes Moths

• The small, whitish casemaking clothes moth likes, as the name implies, to feed on clothing, among other items. A woolen item placed in summer storage is one of their favorite items, but they will also feast on silks, furs and other organic materials. The adult moths do not eat the clothing; the eggs they lay do, once they hatch into their larval form of a tiny, white caterpillar.

Life Cycle

• The adult female casemaking clothes moth lays its eggs over a period of three or four weeks, then dies. The adult male lives a longer time and continues to mate until its life ends. The clothes moth eggs may take between four and 10 days to hatch during warm weather, longer when it is colder. Once hatched, the larvae build their cocoons. The casemaking moth larva spins a flattened silken cocoon to house its body, and it is this cocoon that it drags along from place to place on its food surface. After going through several stages of development, the larvae reach lengths of almost half an inch and enter the pupa stage. The larval stage ranges from a few weeks to almost three years.

Habitat

• Both the adult and larval casemaking moths avoid light and prefer a dark, sometimes damp habitat. They flit through closets, basements and attics, where the female burrows into the folds and crevices of animal-based fabric to lay her eggs. Some casemaking moth larvae leave their host fabric and drag their cocoons along walls in search of a dark crevice or crack in the wall in which to reside.

Prevention and Control

• To control clothes moths, prevention works best. Before packing away your organic, animal-based clothing for the season, wash them or have them dry cleaned. This will kill any unhatched eggs that may have been deposited on the fabric. Many dry cleaners will, if requested, also treat susceptible materials with a moth-proofing solution. Once cleaned, store susceptible fabric in a tightly closed container or bags along with mothballs of sufficient potency to make them lethal to clothes moths. Thoroughly cleaning any infected area, including vacuuming out crannies and crevices, also aids in the control of clothes moths.