There are several species of clothes
moths, all of them characterised by folding
their wings tent-wise along their backs.
The adult Common Clothes Moth is 6 to 7mm
long with pale, plain golden-buff wings
fringed with hair. The rarer Case-Bearing
Clothes Moth, is duller and has three dark
brown spots on each of its wings. The adults
do no damage when feeding. It is the larvae
which hatch from the sticky eggs that eat
wool, hair, fur or feathers - with a preference
for blankets, wool carpets, wool garments
or upholstery that have been soled with
perspiration or food. The grubs are white
caterpillars with golden-brown heads, which
spin a hiding place of characteristic loose
silk webbing, beneath which they feed. They
make irregular holes in textile fabrics
and pupate as silken cocoons. The Case Bearing
Clothes Moth grub produces an open ended
cylindrical case of silk as it feeds, and
attaches fibres of its food material to
this in order to camouflage itself.
