Clothes moth
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Clothes moth ( Tineola bisselliella ) |
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| Tineola bisselliella | ||||||||||||
| ( Hummel , 1823) |
The clothes moth ( Tineola bisselliella ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of real moths (Tineidae) with worldwide distribution. Depending on the color of the food, the wings of the approximately six to nine millimeters large moths are bright yellow to dark brown, shiny, ciliate, have no markings and are folded like a roof over their backs. The wingspan is about 10 to 15 millimeters.
Way of life
In nature, the larvae live in the nests of birds and mammals , where they feed on animal hair. As a textile pest , the clothes moth is common in human dwellings around the world. The flight time is from May to September.
The clothes moth prefers living and storage rooms. The female lays 100 to 250 white eggs. These are placed individually on woolen fabrics , feathers , furs and upholstered furniture . After about two weeks, yellow-white caterpillars (larva of butterflies) hatch from the eggs. The development to the butterfly takes 60 days to several months, depending on the environmental conditions. Four generations per year are possible under optimal conditions.
The larvae of the clothes moth need the protein keratin contained in animal hair ( wool , furs, pelts ) . Purely vegetable and synthetic tissues are eaten by the caterpillars, but not digested; mixed clothing containing wool is therefore particularly at risk. Paper and wood are not attacked by the clothes moth. If clothing is stored for a long time, it can multiply in mass.
The flour moth , which has a different nutritional basis, should not be confused with the clothes moth .
Harmful effect
Only the caterpillar of the clothes moth causes damage to woolen fabrics, mixed fabrics containing wool, furs and other products containing wool, e.g. B. insulation materials. The image does not eat. When the caterpillars eat, holes and bald spots appear on textiles and furs. Clothes that have hair and flakes of skin attached to them are particularly at risk, as these form an additional source of food. In addition to clothing, carpets are also infested , especially in places above cracks in the floor and under furniture where the development of moths is not disturbed by kicks. The structural damage caused by the infestation of natural insulation materials containing wool can be considerable.
Countermeasures
Regular vacuuming is recommended as a countermeasure, especially on the floors and in the cracks of wardrobes and wardrobes. However, it is important to ensure that the moth nest can also be in the vacuum cleaner bag. Furthermore, one should look for the source and check clothing regularly.
Classical chemical defense and control used to be realized with mothballs , today with moth paper, whereby some moth papers, which are supposed to kill moths, also contain nerve toxins dangerous for humans, such as B. Transfluthrin . You should therefore read the information on the ingredients on the packaging.
Natural moth repellent is achieved with cedar , stone pine or neem wood and their essential oils . Likewise lavender in small cloth bag in the closet down, repel moths. The textile industry uses synthetically produced insecticides as pests against moths; so that the textiles are treated to make them mothproofed equip .
The infestation can also be removed by carefully soaking it in almost boiling water or by storing the infested textiles in the freezer (for at least a week); Washing at high temperatures can matt the wool. With these procedures, however, as with the other methods, a check should be carried out after a few weeks to determine whether the textiles are really no longer infested. Otherwise the treatment must be repeated.
For biological control of clothes moths can parasitic wasps can be used. The eggs of these beneficial insects are less than a millimeter in size and are deposited on the eggs of the moth, where the larvae hatch after a short time and eat them up. There are paper cards with colonies of the parasitic wasp species Trichogramma evanescens for biological moth control . Trichogramma parasitic wasps are egg parasites; d. H. they look for the moth's laid eggs, lay their own eggs in them, and instead of a moth larva, a useful parasitic wasp hatches. This cycle is repeated as long as moth eggs are present. If the parasitic wasps do not find any more moth eggs, they die. The beneficial insects are only about 0.3 to 0.4 mm in size and can hardly be seen with the naked eye.
In order to effectively interrupt the development cycle of the moth, three releases of the parasitic wasps are necessary, each three weeks apart. With each release, a card, each filled with around 3,000 parasitic wasp eggs per shelf, is distributed near the textiles.
Are commercially insect trap available, which are up to three months effective. They attract the flying males by means of pheromones . They are suitable for detecting a moth infestation and reduce the population; however, they are not designed to combat an entire population. It should also be noted that the pheromones also attract moths from the neighborhood, and a. through open windows.
Clothes moths in history
Moths (sasū) are already mentioned in ancient Assyrian cuneiform texts . After he was released from prison , the merchant Aššur-taklāku discovered that the moths in his house had consumed 200 robes (akālum) . He estimated the damage to be five mines of silver. According to the Kültepe texts, moths infest clothing that has been packaged or stored for a longer period of time. Thorough ventilation is mentioned as the only antidote . Garments that were partially destroyed were cleaned, cut up and given to servants. From the Central Assyrian Aššur three letters (KAV 99, 109, KAV 195 + KAV 203) of Bābu-aḫa-iddina , son of Ibašši-ilī are known. They were found west of the Nabu temple in 1908 . Bābu-aha-iddina, a high court official, instructs his steward (sa muhhi biti) , Aššur-zuquppanni, to ventilate items of clothing belonging to the royal family that are stored in sealed chests. The caretaker Kidin-Gula, Aššur-zuquppannia, and two auxiliary workers, Maʾānaju and Aššur-bēla-šalim, are instructed to hand over damaged clothing to craftsmen so that they can mend them. The letters come from the eponymate of Ittabšiden-Aššur and Šunuqardu .
Moths are also mentioned in Omina . Theophrast knows the Median apple ( lemon ) to ward off moths. The New Testament (( Mt 6,19–20 EU ); ( Lk 12,33 EU )) recommends, however, to invest in treasures that can be gathered in heaven and thus not be eaten by moths and rust .
The chemist Ernst Meckbach and the entomologist Erich Titschack carried out intensive research on the clothes moth from 1919 onwards and developed the first moth repellent for wool, the Eulan , at the paint factory, formerly Friedrich Bayer & Co. , in Leverkusen .
literature
- Christel Sachs, Jutta Koop: Uninvited house guests - prevent vermin and fight against them in an environmentally friendly manner . Sachs, 1994, ISBN 3-928294-00-8 .
- Thomas Voigt: House and hygiene pests, moths, cockroaches, silverfish, house crickets, flies, wasps, ants, house dust mites, house mice, rats . Govi, 1995, ISBN 3-7741-0461-1 .
- Harry Garms: Fauna of Europe, a determination dictionary of the animals of Europe . dtv, 1977.
- David Pinniger, Bill Landsberger, Pascal Querner, Adrian Meyer: Handbook Integrated Pest Management in Museums, Archives and Historic Buildings. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-7861-2760-4 .
- Alexander Wudtke: Options for method transfer from store protection to material protection . Mensch & Buch, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89820-379-4 (131 pages).
- Alexander Wudtke: Museum pests - avoidance and control using the example of the clothes moth. In: museumskunde , Volume 68, 2003, pp. 122–128.
Web links
- Taxonomy and photos of Lepiforum e. V.
- Collection of the Natural History Museum Stockholm (Swedish)
- Markku Savela: Lepidoptera and some other life forms (English)
- Ian Kimber: Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland (English)
- Tineola bisselliella at Fauna Europaea
- Clothes moth , leaflet from the Pest Control Advice Center of the City of Zurich, PDF file, 93 kB
Individual evidence
- ^ Test of moth repellants. (No longer available online.) Öko-Test , October 5, 2015, archived from the original on February 21, 2016 .
- ^ Cécile Michel, Les Mites d'Assyrie Moths: Assyrian Texts of the Second Millennium B. C. In: Journal of the American Oriental Society . 118/3, 1998, pp. 325-331.
- ^ S. Moren: A preliminary investigation . In: The omen series "Summa alū" . University Microfilms, Ann Arbor 1978, p. 173.
- ↑ Theophrastus: Peri phyton aition . In: A. Hort (Ed.): Inquiry into Plants and Minor Works on Odors and Weather Signs . Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge Mass. 1961, Book 4, § 4.
- ^ Adolf Herfs (1962): Professor Dr. Erich Titschack on his seventieth birthday. Pest Control Indicator 35 (6): 92-93. doi: 10.1007 / BF02332877
- ↑ Erich Titschack (1922): Contributions to a monograph of the clothes moth, Tineola biselliella Hum. Journal of Technical Biology 10: 1-168, panels I – IV.