A to Z of Pests

Case-Bearing Clothes Moth

Tinea pellionella

Appearance

• Adult — 6 mm long. Dark buff forewings with three faint spots (may appear as two).
• Larva — up to 10 mm long. Lives in a silken tube, which is usually the colour of the fabric it has been eating.
• Pupa — formed in the sealed larval case.

Lifecycle

• Similar to the common clothes moth.

Habits

• Regular holes made in fabrics.
• More rare than the Common clothes moth. Check imported goods such as hides or objects of animal origin.