Clothes moth or clothing moth is the common name for several species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

considered to be pests, whose larvae eat animal fibres (hairs), including

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

and other

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s. These include: * ''

Tineola bisselliella ''Tineola'' is a genus of moths the family Tineidae. There are two species, including the familiar common clothes moth (''T. bisselliella'').Tinea pellionella ''Tinea pellionella'', the case-bearing clothes moth, is a species of tineoid moth in the family Tineidae, the fungus moths. This species has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide.Cheema, P. S. (1956).Studies on the bionomics o ...

'', the case-bearing clothes moth. Obsolete names are: ''Phalaena (Tinea) pellionella'', ''Phalaena zoolegella'', ''Tinea demiurga'', ''Tinea gerasimovi'', and ''Tinea pelliomella'' * ''

Trichophaga tapetzella ''Trichophaga tapetzella'', the tapestry moth or carpet moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae. It is found worldwide. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. ...

'', the carpet moth or tapestry moth * ''

Monopis crocicapitella ''Monopis crocicapitella'', the pale-backed clothes moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae described by James Brackenridge Clemens in 1859. It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. It was first described from the eastern United States. It is pa ...

'', pale-backed clothes moth. Particularly destructive of textiles, and found to have increased dramatically in south-west England in 2018. * ''

Niditinea fuscella The brown-dotted clothes moth (''Niditinea fuscella'') is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It is (under its junior synonym ''Tinea fuscipunctella'') the t ...

'', the brown-dotted clothes moth

Diet

The larvae of clothes moths eat animal fibres, which are not removed by other scavengers. In human societies, garments and textiles are made of animal fibres; several moth species eat them, creating holes and damage, and are consequently considered a pest, deriving their generic common name from their diet.

Treatment and control

Various means are used to

repel Repel is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories ...

or kill moths.

Pheromone trap A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure, as the red rubber septa in the picture, is encased in a convent ...

s are also used both to count and to destroy clothes moths, although these only attract certain species of clothes moth so it is possible to have an active clothes moth infestation without any moths being found on the pheromone traps. Among other methods, recommendations to protect heritage collections of textiles include checking the undersides of chairs, moving and vacuum-cleaning all furniture once a month and sealing the discarded vacuum cleaner bag, checking and shaking textiles every month, and regularly checking attics and chimneys. If textiles do become infested, adults, eggs and larvae can be killed by freezing garments in sealed bags for a fortnight (14 days).

References

{{Animal common name Insects in culture Insect common names