Size: Their bodies are about 3/8 to 1/2 inches long, while larvae are up to 1/2 inch long. This is one of the few moth species that can damage clothing and carpets but you can deter them from households. These spots can be rubbed off on older moths. It can look like an empty case or shell. Because case moth larvae have to make use of the materials they find to make their casing, they can look very differently. Other common names for case moths are bagworms. Perhaps they have never had a chance to emerge as tiny adult moths because you have discovered them and cleaned them away. The wingspan is about 30 mm for males. It’s made of silk fiber, sand, lint, and other miscellaneous debris. The larva makes a portable case for itself out of wool and other fibres. In outside buildings it has one generation, however, in heated buildings it can have two or more generations. Sometimes, the larvae is hard to spot, since it is the same color and texture of the fabric. Photograph: Alamy. Adult Casemaking Clothes Moth (Actual Size 1/2 Inch) As the larvae spins, a protective "case" is made of the same fiber that it is digesting. Larvae are yellowish in color. Color: Casemaking clothes moths have brownish-gray wings with three dark spots. In Florida, this braconid and an ichneumonid wasp, Lymeon orbum (Say), were reared from the household casebearer (Hetrick 1957). A braconid wasp, Apanteles carpatus (Say), parasitizes larvae of case-bearing moths, killing the larva before pupation. As always, the best way to discourage these guys is to remove their food source. The larva lives in the case. Caterpillars of each The entire thing is about half an inch long. Incorporated into the silken case are fibers from materials the larva have fed on. The Casemaking Clothes Moth is not as common as the Webbing Clothes Moth. Saunders' case moth or the large bagworm (Metura elongatus) is a moth of the Psychidae family. Clothes moths larvae, either the webbing clothes moth or case making moth. Adult males have black wings, an orange hairy head and a black and orange banded abdomen. The openings at the end allow the larvae to move and to eat. Although they do play a very important role in ecosystems by cleaning up all sorts of debris, they are wreaking havoc inside of people's homes. Especially with the sandy collar area. Rather confusingly most of these moth species will sometimes switch from carpets to clothes and … Unlike the webbing clothes moth, casemaking clothes moths seldom incorporate webbing or cocoons into the materials on which they are feeding. Image: QM, Jeff Wright Introduction Case moths, bag moths or bagworms are names given to a group of moths (Family Psychidae) whose caterpillars make portable homes from silk, usually attaching plant material, detritus or sand grains to the outside. The casemaking clothes moth encloses itself in an open-ended tubular case, which it drags about wherever it goes. The one on the picture has gathered quite a few small sticks to make a casing with horizontal lines. It is a good idea to invest in some airtight storage bags or boxes for any important wool or cotton clothing. Eventually the larva will pupate in the case. Case bearing clothes moth larvae love to eat the natural fibers in our clothes and other soft-goods. Very fashionable! Case moths, bag moths or bagworms Fact Sheet Case moth. Slit-like openings are located at each end. It is possible that Case Bearing Moth Larvae my eat organic fibers and protein, hence being considered Household Pests. Adult case-bearing carpet moth. It is known from the eastern half of Australia, including Tasmania.. Plaster bagworms are a close relative of the clothes moth. Keep in mind it's the larvae of the moth that are causing the destruction. Case making Clothes Moth image licensed under CC. 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