One eats only clothes, the other only cereals: how to distinguish food moths from clothes moths (6 photos)

Usually people are touched at the sight of lepidopterans: well, a butterfly has wings, blah blah blah blah! However, among these cute insects there is an exception, at the sight of which a person instantly turns into a ferocious killer maniac. This is a moth, the appearance of which in the house inevitably means some kind of trouble.





A caring housewife's nightmare.

As a rule, upon noticing a small butterfly fluttering around the room, everyone first rushes to the wardrobe and checks scarves, blouses and fur collars. But if you find that everything is intact, then it’s too early to relax. A moth is not a fly; it does not accidentally fly into a window. She lives next to a person, not without reason seeing in him, or rather, in his household, a source of tasty and healthy food. And if she cheerfully flies around the house, then, probably, being a larva, she has already had a good meal with something. And since your favorite rags are intact, you need to check the buffet.



Nothing fancy, just rice with meat.

Food moths love to diversify their menu. Not only cereals are in danger, but also pasta, sugar, nuts, candies... Moths won’t even refuse coffee or cocoa. Moreover, if you properly wrapped the food in a bag, this does not mean at all that your future lunch is safe: moths can easily gnaw through polyethylene if they feel that there is something to try for.





It's not just apples that are wormy!

The larvae of both clothes moths and food moths are very small and are not so easy to see. Moreover, food moths usually crawl out of grain only after eating it from the inside. But it’s quite possible to notice a thin cobweb on food, and this is a sure sign that you have a parasite.



Local people dress with taste!

How to determine which of the misfortunes is fluttering around the room? If you can see the color of the rapidly flashing wings, then the light moth most likely grew out of your clothes, and the one with darker wings, as if with a brown frill, honestly shared the food with you. They can also be distinguished by their habits: clothes and wool moths shyly hide in the corners, while food moths calmly perch on the walls and ceiling. Both do not like light.



Educational program by definition of moths in the house. We hope you never need it!

If you managed to figure out who exactly got into trouble with you, it’s time to take up arms. As a rule, applause is used against an adult moth: you can simply swat it. This will no longer save either things or food: the adult moth does not eat, which means that, being a larva, it has already eaten everything it could. But at least you won’t let her have offspring. But each food moth is capable of laying up to 160 eggs. Clothes - a little less, up to 100 eggs in a couple of weeks.



True aristocrats do not dress in silk. They eat silk for breakfast.

Systematic inspection saves you from larvae. Ventilate things, sort through grains, keep something in direct sunlight, take something out into the cold. If the time of year is not suitable, then you can hide a bag of clothes in the freezer for a couple of days. A steam cleaner also helps. Herbs like lavender can repel adult moths: they are unlikely to want to lay eggs where something fragrant is stored. You can even add soap to your clothes, and garlic to your food. The main thing is not to confuse.