White shouldered house moth
Endrosis sarcitrella (Linnaeus)

Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Acronym: ESA

Ecology

The white shouldered house moth is found worldwide. It is not suited to hot tropical climates and is more of a pest in cool climates. It is a scavenger. It is found in households, ship holds, granaries, warehouses and birds nests. The white shouldered house moth can breed continuously in stored products if conditions are suitable. It infests stored grain, dried foods, animal and plant products, cereals, pulses, dried fruit and fungi. It is often found with the brown house moth, Hofmannophila pseudospretella.

Damage

The white shouldered house moth infests cereals. Damage is not distinct and is caused by larval feeding. The larva produces silk webbing. This webbing allows the larva to conceal seeds or other products to feed on them. It chews irregular holes in the food material. Signs of infestation are when the product is contaminated with silk and frass.

Life history

The adult white shouldered house moth has a wing span of 10 - 21 mm. The body is 7 – 9.5 mm long. Characteristic features of the adult are bright white scales covering the head and thorax. The labial palps are long and upturned and covered in white scales with a black tip. The forewings are mottled with cream and dark brown patches of scales. The hind wing is beige and has a very long fringe of hairs on the wing margin. Both the forewings and hind wings are narrow. The adult does not feed on the commodity. The adult can fly and is short-lived.

Breeding conditions are temperatures that range from 10°C - 29°C and humidity greater than 70%. The female lays 200 eggs singly or in groups in crevices in a food source.

The larva is ivory-white. It can grow to 12 mm long. It has a red-brown head. The larva is active. It has a brown thoracic shield on the segment behind the head. The conditions for development are a temperature between 24°C - 29°C and a humidity of 80%. The larva pupates in a silk cocoon in or near the food source. The larva can complete its development in 55 - 60 days.

Control

Controlling insect infestations

Images

Adult white shouldered house mot

Cheryl Moorehead, individual, Bugwood.org
Adult white shouldered house moth