Large pale clothes moth
Tinea pallescentella Stainton

Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Tineidae
Acronym: TPA

Ecology

The Large pale clothes moth is distributed worldwide and is mainly found in temperate regions. In North America, it is recorded in California and British Columbia. It is found in damp grain, stables, mills, granaries, warehouses, households, outhouses, and rodent and birds nests. It feeds on grain with a high moisture content. It also feeds on clothes, carpets, animal hair, feathers and animal remains. The moth is a bigger pest of products containing natural wool fibres than of stored grain. It may cause serious damage to clothes, carpets, tapestries and upholstery.

Damage

The large pale clothes moth does not create any distinctive damage. The larva infests cereal grains that have a high moisture content. Damage is caused by larval feeding. Signs of infestation are holes in wool articles and contamination of products with larvae and pupal cases.

Life history

The adult large pale clothes moth has a wing span of 12 - 15 mm. It has short labial palps. The head is covered in spiky hairs. The adult moth is light brown to dark brown with narrow wings. The forewings range in colour from pale beige to brown and dark brown. The forewing may be mottled or the wing tips may be a darker color than the other 2/3^rds of the wing. The hind wings are pale and are fringed with short hairs. The adult does not feed on the commodity. The adult can fly.

The female lays eggs in crevices.

The larva is white. It grows to 7 – 12 mm long. The larva’s head is brown to dark brown. It has a longitudinal black stripe along the side of its head.

Control

Controlling insect infestations