Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Lepidoptera: Tineidae, Tineola bisselliella.

Moths are from the Lepidoptera order of insects. The two basic types of moths that are of interest to those responsible for pest control in homes, warehouses, museums or other structures are the ones that feed on fabrics and the ones that feed on grains. Grain moths have the ability to feed on and/or breed in grains and other such materials. Fabric moths are most commonly known as Clothing Moths (pictured) and  has the distinguished ability to digest keratin. Simply put, they feed on and can digest skin, fur, hooves, feathers – animal parts.

When most people see moths in their homes they immediately think that they have been infested with clothes moths that might be feeding on their woolens, carpets, rugs, etc. In most cases they have misidentified their pest and actually have an infestation of a type of grain moth. When there are several moths in the home they are almost always a type of grain infesting moth.

Evidence of clothing moths is usually found by the damage they do to different fabrics in our homes.