May 4, 2012 – Nature Insists on Recycling
QUESTION:
I have been getting a lot of clothes moth calls lately. One home has pheromone traps in the closets and attic and the second floor closets captured many moths, but in the attic the traps were full. No clothing, rugs, or material products were stored there. The insulation was the fiber insulation as opposed to blown in. Why would the moths be in an attic? In one trap alone there were more moths than all the traps below combined. For what possible reason could they be there?
ANSWER:
Since you were using pheromone traps for clothes moths then it's a good assumption that what you were capturing is, indeed, clothes moths, and large numbers of them indoors definitely tells us there is an indoor source that they are breeding in. Clothes moths (casemaking and webbing) also have a couple of nearby relatives called the Household Casebearer and the Plaster Bagworm, and even though both of these are in different genera than the two common species that we call clothes moths, I suppose it would be possible for them to be drawn to the pheromones as well. Probably not overly likely though.
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I have been getting a lot of clothes moth calls lately. One home has pheromone traps in the closets and attic and the second floor closets captured many moths, but in the attic the traps were full. No clothing, rugs, or material products were stored there. The insulation was the fiber insulation as opposed to blown in. Why would the moths be in an attic? In one trap alone there were more moths than all the traps below combined. For what possible reason could they be there?
ANSWER:
Since you were using pheromone traps for clothes moths then it's a good assumption that what you were capturing is, indeed, clothes moths, and large numbers of them indoors definitely tells us there is an indoor source that they are breeding in. Clothes moths (casemaking and webbing) also have a couple of nearby relatives called the Household Casebearer and the Plaster Bagworm, and even though both of these are in different genera than the two common species that we call clothes moths, I suppose it would be possible for them to be drawn to the pheromones as well. Probably not overly likely though.
The reason I mention these is because the last two species may be more likely to feed on various things such as dead bugs, spider webs, and even fungus. I have seen large infestations of them on the white fungus growth on wood in a wet crawl space. But, let's assume you have our standard clothes moths, and if it is the Casemaking clothes moth in the numbers you are finding you also ought to be able to see dozens of the little "cases" that the larvae make and drag around with them.
Clothes moths are recyclers of animal matter, and this includes hair and feathers. With that many adults found in the attic perhaps you have some old dead animals tucked away up there. They could be so old that any odor from them is dissipated and no longer bothering anyone in the house below. It would be important for you to visually inspect the entire attic to determine what is lying around up there that these moths are depositing eggs on. Finding the source and removing it is the ultimate answer for controlling the problem, just as removing infested food resolves stored food pest issues. Until the source is gone you will continue to get adult moths emerging, and waiting for them to complete the work and disappear on their own could take awhile. In the meantime you may have, as you are seeing here, adult moths finding their way down into living areas where they then could find and infest more important materials in the home.
Don't overlook old animal nests (birds, rodents) where hair, feathers, and other debris could be left behind. Look for large numbers of wasp nests and other things left behind that might hold insect parts. Look for old stored foods as well, since the clothes moths may also infest old grain products. And, look for fungus growth on the wood, as this also is an alternative food resource for clothes moths.
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