Tineola bisselliella

"Clothing moth" redirects here. This term may also refer to several other Tineidae.

Tineola bisselliella, known as the Common Clothes Moth, Webbing Clothes Moth, or simply Clothing Moth, is a species of fungus moth (family Tineidae). Therein it belongs to the subfamily Tineinae. It is the type species of its genus Tineola. The specific name is commonly mis-spelled biselliella – for example by G. A. W. Herrich-Schäffer, when he established Tineola in 1853.^[1]

The caterpillars of this moth are considered a serious pest, as they can derive nourishment from clothing – in particular wool, but many other natural fibers – and also, like most related species, from stored produce.

Contents 1 Range and ecology 2 Pest control 3 Synonyms 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 External links

Range and ecology

Its natural range is western Eurasia, but has been transported by human travelers to other localities. For example, it is nowadays found in Australia. The species' presence has not been recorded in France, Greece, Slovenia and Switzerland, though this likely reflects the lack of occurrence data rather than absence.^[2]

This moth prefers moist conditions, although low humidity will merely slow development. Webbing Clothes Moths are small moths whose adults grow to between 1 and 2 cm in length. Their eggs are tiny, most being under 1 mm long and barely visible. A female will lay several hundred during her lifetime; egg placement is carefully chosen in locations where they will have the best chance for survival.

The eggs are attached with a glue-like substance and can be quite difficult to remove. After the egg hatches, the larva will immediately look for food. Larvae can obtain their required food in less than two months, but if conditions are not favorable they will feed on and off for a long time. Whether it takes two months or two years, each larva will eventually spin a cocoon in which it will pupate and change into an adult. Larvae stay in these cocoons for between one and two months and then emerge as adults ready to mate and to lay eggs.

This species is notorious for feeding on clothing and natural fibers; they have the ability to turn keratin (a protein of which hair and wool mainly consist) into food. The moths prefer dirty fabric for oviposition and are particularly attracted to carpeting and clothing that contains human sweat or other liquids which have been spilled onto them. They are attracted to these areas not for the food but for the moisture: the caterpillars do not drink water; consequently their food must contain moisture.

The range of recorded foodstuffs includes cotton, linen, silk and wool fabrics as well as furs; furthermore they have been found on shed feathers and hair, bran, semolina and flour (possibly preferring wheat flour), biscuits, casein, and insect specimens in museums. In one case, living T. bisselliella caterpillars were found in salt. They had probably just accidentally wandered there – as even to such a polyphagous species pure sodium chloride has no nutritional value – but still it attests to their robustness.^[3]

Both adults and larvae prefer low light conditions. Whereas many other Tineidae are drawn to light, Common Clothes Moths seem to prefer dim or dark areas. If larvae find themselves in a well-lit room, they will try to relocate under furniture or carpet edges. Handmade rugs are a favorite, because it is easy for the larvae to crawl underneath and do their damage from below. They will also crawl under moldings at the edges of rooms in search of darkened areas where debris has gathered and which consequently hold good food.

The eggs hatch into larvae, which then begin to feed. Once they have finished larval development, they pupate and undergo metamorphosis to emerge as imagines (adult moths). Adults do not eat; rather, males look for females with whom to mate, and females look for places to lay their eggs. Once reproduction is done, they die. Contrary to what most people believe, adult T. bisselliella do not eat or cause any damage to clothing or fabric. It is the larvae which are solely responsible for this, and which spend their entire time eating and foraging for food.

Pest control

Control measures for T. bisselliella (and similar species) include the following:

• Physical measures
  • Clothing moth traps – this step can help monitor the current infestation and prevent males from mating with females
  • Cryofumigation – Fumigating an object with dry ice, that is enclosing it in a plastic bag for 3–5 days with dry ice so it is effectively bathed in a high concentration of carbon dioxide, denied oxygen, and thus it will kill all stages of clothing moths. For details, see Clothes Moths Management Guidelines, under "Household Furnishings".
  • Dry cleaning – This step kills moths on existing clothing and helps remove moisture from clothes
  • Freezing – Freezing the object for several days at temperatures below 32 °F (0 °C)
  • Heat (120 °F or 49 °C for 30 minutes or more) – these conditions may possibly be achieved by placing infested materials in an attic in warm weather, or by washing clothes at or above this temperature. Specialist pest controllers can also provide various methods of heat treatment for this very purpose.
  • Sunlight – has a limited effect

Moonlight - has a limited effect

• • Vacuuming – Since the moths like to hide in carpeting and baseboards, this is an important step towards full eradication
• Mothproofing – Treatment of materials as a preventive measure before their use, as well as simply for storage, has a long history.^[4] Arsenical compounds were effective in killing larvae but were considered too toxic for human contact even in the early 20th century. Triphenyltin chloride was effective at 0.25%. After 1947, chloronated hydrocarbon insecticides of many varieties were found to be effective at the low concentrations practical for preservative treatment.^[4] Examples are chlordane at 2% per weight of wool, toxaphene at 0.8%, pentachlorophenol or BHC at 0.5%, DDT at 0.2%, chlordecone and mirex at 0.06%, and dieldrin at 0.05%. Imidazole (a non-chloronated aromatic heterocyclic) at 1% also gave satisfactory protection. Besides solvent-based applications, insecticidal dusts were commonly used to treat fabrics. In the 1950s EQ-53, a DDT emulsion, was recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to add to the final rinse of washable woolens, but even then cautions were given to the use of chloronated hydrocarbons on items subject to commercial drycleaning. The 1985 United States EPA ban on most uses of Aldrin and Dieldrin exempted moth-proofing in a closed manufacturing process.^[5]
• Mothballs – are used primarily as a preservative but also will kill existing larvae if the concentration is high enough. There are two types of mothball: early 20th century ones were based on naphthalene, while mid 20th century ones used paradichlorobenzene. Both evaporate into a gas, which is heavier than air and needs to reach a high concentration at the protected material to be effective. Disadvantages: somewhat toxic and carcinogenic, mothballs should not be put where they can be eaten by children or pets. Naphthalene mothballs are also highly flammable.
• Insecticides – typically aerosol application works best if coverage is adequate. Treat once a month for the first three months and then once a quarter for the next year to ensure the infestation is under control.
  • Permethrin – a particular synthetic pyrethroid available as aerosol spray. Disadvantages: very toxic to cats and fish.
  • Pyrethroids or pyrethrins (e.g. Cy-Kick, Deltamethrin) – synthetic or natural pyrethrins available as aerosol spray or as dusts. Disadvantages: some are persistent in the ecosystem and toxic to fish, possibly resistance.
  • Pyriproxyfen (or other juvenile hormone analogs) – stop the life cycle by preventing the caterpillars from pupating
• Biological measures
  • Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) – a safer and more natural alternative to mothballs but may require high vapour concentrations
  • Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) – questionable value as long-term deterrent. While the volatile oil is able to kill small larvae, it is difficult to maintain sufficient concentrations of it around stored articles to be effective; cedar wood loses all moth-suppressant capabilities after a few years. Other cedar species may have better or worse effects.
  • Common Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) – either bags with dried lavender flowers are put into the wardrobe (they can be refreshed by putting a few drops of lavender oil on them), or a few drops of lavender oil are put on a piece of fabric which is then deposited in the wardrobe and periodically refreshed. Disadvantage: strong "perfumed" smell
  • Ichneumon wasps (e.g. Trichogramma evanescens) – tiny parasitoid wasps which place their own eggs beside those of the moths; when hatching their larvae eat the moth eggs. Ichneumon wasps are harmless to humans, measuring only about 2 mm. Once all moth eggs are eaten, the wasps vanish within 2–4 weeks.

Synonyms

The Common Clothes Moth is such a widespread and frequently seen species that it has been described time and again under a variety of junior synonyms and other now-invalid scientific names:^[6]

• Paracharactis vestianella (sensu auct., non Linnaeus, 1758: preoccupied)
• Tinea biselliella (lapsus)
• Tinea bisselliella Hummel, 1823
• Tinea crinella Sodoffsky, 1830^[7]
• Tinea destructor Stephens, 1834
• Tinea flavifrontella Thunberg, 1794 (non Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775: preoccupied)
• Tinea lanariella Clemens, 1859
• Tinea vestianella (sensu auct., non Linnaeus, 1758: preoccupied)
• Tineoila biselliella (lapsus)
• Tineoila crinella (Sodoffsky, 1830)^[7]
• Tineoila destructor (Stephens, 1834)
• Tineoila lanariella (Clemens, 1859)
• Tineoila furciferella Zaguljaev, 1954

Footnotes

References

• Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) (2008): Australian Faunal Directory – Tineola bisselliella. Version of October 9, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Fauna Europaea (FE) (2009): Tineola bisselliella. Version 2.1, December 22, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004): Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species – Tineola. Version of November 5, 2004. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Robinson, Gaden S. [2010]: Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera) – Tineola bisselliella. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Savela, Markku (2003): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Tineola. Version of December 28, 2003. Retrieved 2010-MAY-06.

External links

• Clothes Moths Management Guidelines
• Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet at the Wayback Machine (archived June 17, 2008)
• Clothes Moths, Kansas State University