Many of our customers ask the question, wondering what exactly a case bearing moth is. And not surprisingly. The term case bearing moth is not that commonly used. In this post we will look at what these insects are. As well as that, we will outline what you should do about these moths.
Key facts about the case bearing clothes moth
The fact is there’s almost nothing much that separates these types of moths from regular clothes moths. The only real difference is the moths caterpillars. The key to understanding this moth is looking at its name. These pests are also known as case bearing clothes moths. What this means, primarily, is that the moths caterpillar constructs a case in which it lives. The caterpillar drags this case around with it when feeding. When not feeding, it crawls back into the case and hides away. When it’s time to develop into a moth, it closes up the end of the case.
The most interesting thing about this pest is actually the case itself. This case is made from a silk-like material, but the moth also incorporates man-made materials. These include things like hair, plus any materials the moth harvests from your home (such as wool, your carpet etc.) The problem here is that this means the moth can blend into its surroundings. If these moths are living on your carpet, then their cases may end up being the same colour as that carpet.
What can you do about these pests?
These pests eat clothes. The caterpillars of these moths also eat other things, such as natural fibre’s such as wool, fur, and leather. Something else you should know is that these caterpillars are extremely small. This means they can often go completely undetected. All of this means that you need to get rid of them.
The best way of doing this is with regular vacuuming and cleaning. These pests are particularly fond of carpets, so start by regularly hoovering these. If you think these pests are in your cupboards, you can place moth paper and traps. You can stick moth paper on the walls of your cupboards and also wrap it around coat hangers. The paper contains a poison which gradually disperses and kills the moths.
Moth traps contain pheromones which attract male moths. These moths die in the trap and this prevents them from breeding. If you have clothes moths or case bearing moths, they can multiply very fast in a short period of time if not nipped in the bud successfully. This will usually require a professional moth control expert to intervene at the. First opportunity.
Case bearing moth image courtesy of Patrick Clement, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.