WSU Extension

Pestsense

Food and Fabric
 
Carpet beetles
Casemaking clothes moth
Crickets
Cupboard beetle
Drugstore beetle
Indian meal moth
Mediterranean flour moth
Mites in stored foods
Psocids (booklice or barklice)
Sawtooth grain beetle
Spider beetle
Whiteshouldered house moth



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Caption: Whiteshouldered house moth adult
Photo by: Art Antonelli
  
Whiteshouldered house moth
(revision date: 7/14/2015)

Use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for successful pest management.

Biology
The whiteshouldered house moth is occasionally found in household products. The adults are quite distinctive, having grayish-white wings with dark spots and a “shoulder” area that is bright white. This white shoulder becomes less pronounced as the adult ages. Adults have a wingspan of about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Larvae are white with brown heads and are about 1/3 inch long at maturity. Larvae feed on grain products, wool or other protein-based clothing or carpets, corks, dry seeds, fungi on trees, on rubbish in bird nests, and on other foodstuffs or organic debris which has accumulated.
Management Options

Non-Chemical Management
  • Find the source of the infestation and dispose of it.
  • Physically destroy the larvae and pupae before they become reproductive adults. Adults can be eliminated with devices like fly swatters.
  • Maintain food in tightly-sealed containers to keep pests out.
Select non-chemical management options as your first choice!

Chemical Management
IMPORTANT: Visit Home and Garden Fact Sheets for more information on using pesticides

None recommended.

Images

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Caption: Whiteshouldered house moth adult
Photo by: Art Antonelli