Moths are an extremely diverse species with approximately 160,000 different types, while there are only 17,500 species of butterfly. You’ve probably heard that a moth is a result of the final stage of growth from the egg, larva, and pupa. This process happens over a gradual period from weeks to months. The moth finally bursts from its cocoon as a mature identity from where it ventures into your house. But how long do moths live in a house?
The average lifespan of an adult moth is 40 days. During their lifespan, moths accumulate quickly in numbers due to the large number of eggs released by the female.
I know how frustrating it is to have months in your home. The rest of the article will review in-depth how long each species lives inside a house, where they live inside the house and how to get rid of them for good from your house. Let’s start
How long do moths live inside a house?
The average life span of a month is 40 days from the moment it bursts from its cocoon. When a female finally lays a maximum of 250 eggs, she leaves and the batch is hatched after 10 days. The adult moth them proceeds to invade food pantries and natural fibers.
The specific lifespan of the moth depends on its species. An adult Luna moth is Luna-green that lives for just one week, the puss moth that has grey color can live for a maximum of 3 to 5 months. Hummingbird and hawk moths can live for two or three months.
The lifespan is negligible for a small number of moths, however, when that population starts to grow exponentially, the lifespan becomes a worrying trend. You don’t want to have moths reproducing at such a high rate in your residence no matter their lifespan, or do you?
Where do moths hide in your house?
There are so many different species of moths found but a homeowner usually comes into woes with the counter clothes moths as well as pantry moths. The pests are attracted to a wide range of household items that are used as a source for food or a place to lay eggs. The female moth legs plenty of eggs before leaving to hatch on surfaces of these places.
Moths are famous for their ability to destroy wool clothing as well as webbing clothes. Besides, they also are attracted to natural materials like silk, fur, and hair. Most moths in your house measure on an average of an inch. Most are buff-colored by nature.
Moths avoid natural light during the day and hide outside. But generally, they are found in dark areas within the house such as a basement. The basement is probably the last place you have time to check up on your busy schedule. They will be feeding on carpets, comforters, decorative items, and toys during your absence at night.
Moths are also common at attics. An attic is a room or even space immediately below your roof. Since attics are used for the storage of goods, moths take an upper advantage of this situation and feed on blended and stained fabrics. Due to the poor illumination in the space, moths will hide in this area for days without you even noticing.
When is the last time you checked your closets? Do you always assume everything is okay? I recommend you look at the corners of the closet or the folds of fabrics. Moths can encroach and infest in a home long before you notice their populations. As a result, substantial damage will manifest on the clothing or furnishings stored in these regions.
You should check your cupboards as well. Moths love cupboards when looking for food especially the pantry moths. Since cupboard shelves are rarely cleaned, they take that advantage and feast on your food without you even noticing. This might even cause food poisoning.
They will consume on coats, sweaters, pillows as long as it’s stored in a poor eliminated region. Moths will invade an area with low light and infest in their numbers to cause substantial damage to the place they manifest. A large population at parts of the house can be quite costly.
Clothes moth larvae usually leave behind tiny holes in clothes. They also leave feces stains while feeding necessitating large amounts of food stored on pantries to be thrown away citing contamination from its droppings, webbing, and cocoons.
How do you get rid of moths in your house?
Prevention is always better than cure. Keep your, carpets, floors, and moldings always vacuumed and dusted. I recommend cleaning your home with a vacuum cleaner in addition to dusting clothes. Use also eco-friendly cleaners that will ensure that your house is free from dirt and dust, which draws moths. Also, remember to empty vacuum contents and wash thoroughly dusting cloths regularly to ensure eggs don’t hatch and larvae don’t grow.
They are three to four species you need to be on the lookout for. A closed mouth is generally gold in color. They are very small, less than a centimeter long, and hard to notice in your closet or whatever region. They mostly come through clothing, second-hand clothing, and furniture probably provided by your door neighbor. The prevention caution is to avoid sharing clothing with a person who has a manifestation of them.
In your closet, they make those tiny holes on your favorite merch. So make sure that your coat hangers in your closets are mainly made of cedarwood. The cedar wood produces a chemical with a scent that they don’t like. Also, use cedar oiling that repels moths and lavender bags. However, that doesn’t work much. Instead, maintain your closet by putting your clothes inside a bag that isn’t moth written.
I also recommend using the moth spray that contains insecticides on top of using bags to store your clothes to abrogate their population completely. You have to be extremely careful when spraying because they contain an insecticide that is irritating when it touches the skin’s surface.
My best recommendation would be to use a moth trap. Once you purchase the trap, carefully peel the paper. The trap releases a sweet scent chemical that attracts moths on the sticky surface of the moth trap. Moths produce a sex pheromone that attracts especially the male moth to the sticky surface of the moth trap that is impregnated with that pheromone chemical that moths love.
There’s also an electronic switch called Aspectek that emits a high frequency to kill the moths. It’s available on Amazon at a good price. Check the Aspectek switch on Amazon.
Moths love natural fiber very much such as wool, cashmere, and silk. Although they are very expensive, moths don’t feed on synthetic fiber and instead will opt for natural fiber. Use synthetic nylon bags to cover this type of garment to prevent moths from retarding you a step behind.
You can also freeze your clothes. This is done by putting your clothes inside a bag and placing it in the freezer for a couple of days. This will kill both the larvae inside the piece of clothing because moths don’t survive in extremely cold environments but instead love warm environments with optimum temperatures. You can also use hot temperatures to destroy them once you notice holes in one of the merch in your closet.
If the moth population is large, the best recommendation that can remove them is by calling the pest control service. Sometimes, prevention and elimination techniques just aren’t enough. If you’re facing a moth infestation that’s out of control, please contact Orkin pest control company. They provide solutions friendly to your budget.
Orkin is a pest control company that deals majorly with moths. An Orkin technician designs a special solution that fits your situation. This is so because every homestead differs from the other. Orkin identifies the location of the moths and the formula to be used to eliminate the moths.
Finally, you can also use vinegar to destroy the eggs of the moths. White vinegar is a strong natural cleaner that changes the pH of the surface being cleaned. This destroys the eggs of the female before they are hatched.
My best recommendation for use to destroy moth population is firstly by calling the pest control company if things are out of hand. A competent technician will assess the situation. Use moth spray to destroy visible moths on surfaces of clothes and natural fibers. The best way out is always prevention over cure.
