The simple solution to your Moths Pest Control
You may have carpet moths or moths eating clothes in your house if you find tell-tale holes in natural fabric items that have been stored away for a while or you find threadbare patches or holes in wool rugs or carpets too.
If you find small caterpillars in your food it is possible you may have food moths. This is likely to be a problem with vegetable origin stored foods, so if you are a food business or store food in bulk this is something you need to watch out for.
So how do you know if you have a carpet moth or food moth problem?
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Clothes eating moths and carpet moths are not two different species that have a preference for garments over floor coverings. There are two moths species, the common clothes moth (the webbing moth) and the casemaking clothes moth. However, both of these will eat any keratin containing material. The common clothes moth is just that, more common but both are equally as destructive.
Both species will hide in dark places, resting through the day and coming out during the early evening. The moths also seem poor at identifying people due to bad eyesight.
This moth is small, about 6-7 mm in length with a wingspan of around 12-14 mm. It is yellow-brown in colour with a red-orange tuft on its head.
The female lays eggs in a sticky material in groups of between 30 and 200. These eggs are about 1 mm in size, about the size of a pinhead. The eggs take 4 to 10 days to hatch into clothes moth larvae, which start to feed straight away. The caterpillar phase may last between 1 month to 2 years before they spin a cocoon to pupate into adults about 10 to 50 days later.
The moths tend to scuttle around rather than fly and normally live for another 15 to 30 days, normally after egg-laying or mating for females and males respectively.
The casemaking moth is slightly larger in appearance and is silvery-grey to a shiny light brown colour with dark grey hairs on its head. The two key differences are the cocoons are of the casemaking moth are easier to spot as they are made from fibers.
Another difference is that the casemaking moth will also eat other detritus such as cobwebs, birds nests (including the domestic pigeon), stored vegetables and wallpaper. This makes it more of a challenge to remove.
There are several varieties of food moths. Each have a wing span of between 10-18 mm and all tend to eat dried fruit, cereals, oilseeds and nuts. Some, in particular, the Warehouse Moth, also infest fish, spices, cocoa and tobacco.
The most common is the Indian Meal Moth, which originates from South America. The female will produce up to 500 eggs and these hatch in around two weeks. The food moth larvae then move over the food covering it in their larval silk as they progress.
Depending on the environmental conditions the next phase of their development can take from two weeks to around nine months. The larvae leave the food and spin cocoons. They can hide in the fabric of the building until they emerge up to a moth later as adults.
Apart from the Indian Meal Moth the Warehouse Moth, Tropical Warehouse Moth and the Mediterranean Flour Moth also can cause a problem with stored food in the UK.
If you want to get rid of food moths or carpet moths you are advised to get professional help from a moth pest control service. RapidKill Pest Control provides excellent moth pest control in London, wherever you live or work in the area.
RapidKill Pest Control provide services to eradicate mice, rats, bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas, and all other insects from your domestic or commercial premises. We are fully insured and RSPH qualified with vast experience and a family run business. We cover all councils of London.
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