Mating Habits of Moths

Moths in your home can damage clothes or stored food.

If you have a moth infestation in your home or business, the insects can damage your clothes and contaminate your food stores. Knowing the mating habits of moths is one step you can take in eliminating them, because if you trap the moths during the mating cycle, you can stop the infestation. To start, you need to identify what kind of moth you're dealing with and when they mate.

Clothes Moths

A clothes moth caterpillar will feed on your wool clothes, creating holes.

After a clothes moth caterpillar hatches from its egg, it makes a case and pupates. Immediately upon emerging from the case, the male moth seeks a mate. Female moths release a pheromone to attract males. The female then lays her eggs on wool, on which the eggs stick and the caterpillars feed when they hatch.

Indianmeal Moths

Indianmeal Moths like to lay their eggs in dried food sources.

Like the clothes moth, Indianmeal moths are sexually mature and ready to mate once they emerge from the pupa case. The males find the females through the release of a pheromone. The females then lay their eggs close to dried food sources, such as grain, dried fruits, seeds, nuts and crackers.

Codling Moths

Codling moth caterpillars feed on fruit and nuts.

Codling moth caterpillars feed on fruits or nuts before spinning cocoons and entering the pupae stage. When they hatch as full-grown moths in early spring, they mate during the window of time just before and after sunset and only when the temperature is above 62 degrees. The female releases a pheromone to attract a male and then lay their eggs close to a food source.

Eastern Tent Moths

Eastern tent moths and their caterpillars are known for causing damage to trees in residential and recreational areas. They hatch from eggs in the spring and build tents or webs while they feed. After the pupal stage ends in May and June, the adult moths typically mate and lay eggs on the same day they emerge from their cocoons.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Clothes Moths --- Identification and Control in the Home
• Colorado State University Extension: Indian Meal Moths
• University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes --- Codling Moths Life Cycle
• State University of New York-Cortland: The Eastern Tent Caterpillar
• Auburn University: The Eastern Tent Caterpillars --- A Guide to Recognition and Habits in Alabama

Resources

• Washington State University Decision Aid System: How Does Codling Moth Mating Disruption Work?
• Washington State University Insect Ecology and Behavior Laboratory: Vince Jones' Research
• Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet: Indianmeal Moth
• Colorado State University Extension: Moths in the Home