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As soon as the weather turns cool you pull out the boxes and bags of sweaters, woolens and cozy scarves and hats.  But imagine how upsetting it would be to find that some uninvited “guest” has made a snack of your beautiful (and expensive!) winter clothing.

Moths are one of the most prolific species of insects in the world.  The most common types of moths which eat cloth in North America (and other materials) are the Webbing Clothes Moth (Tineola bisselliella) and the Case-Making Clothes Moth (Tinea pellionella).

Most people do not realize that adult moths are not cloth eaters.  It is actually done during their larva stage before it entering the pupa stage, when the moth is a tiny caterpillar.  Unlike adult moths which are attracted to light, these larvae prefer dark spaces such as in a closet or chest where there are plenty of cozy coats and mittens to curl up in and will feast on your winter wardrobe as they prepare to turn into adult moths.

Many people attempt to get rid of moths and their larva by putting their clothing inside cedar chests or by using cedar hangers; however this is not necessarily going to be effective, especially after the cedar ages for a few years.   Another solution is the use of moth balls, a type of insect repellant made from naphthalene which gives off a strong, unpleasant smell.  The disadvantage of using moth balls (aside from the bad smell) is that naphthalene is a chemical which can actually be harmful to humans or pets.

While you may not be able to avoid using any chemicals completely, you can drastically reduce the amount that you do use.   The key to successful removal of moths is to remove them physically—using a vacuum cleaner and by heating the materials that have been infested to more than 130 degrees you can kill any eggs, pupa or caterpillars.  To rid your home of the adult moths, you can purchase insect traps which attract them using pheromones. 

Obviously if you feel that your problem is out of hand, you’ll want to contact a contact your local pest control provider who can offer you solutions to your moth problem, and help keep your winter wardrobe intact!

For a free Los Angles pest control inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Tags: Moths, winter

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Moths. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.