Paper/Fabric Pest Identification
Expert Pest Control Services In Missouri
Paper/Fabric Pests can be destructive to paper products, clothing, furs, stored goods, and other household items. Without extermination, these pests can feed on carpet, furniture, clothing fibers, wool, felt, silks, feathers, leather, or even animal hair.
Paper/Fabric Pest Identification
Black Carpet Beetle
The carpet beetle has an oval-shaped body that is black with a pattern of white and orange/red scales. The carpet beetle will feed on various plant and animal products, such as hair, horns, feathers, silk, fur, rye flour, and wheat. As their name suggests, the carpet beetle prefers feeding on carpets, clothing, and other textiles. During the summer, adults are typically found outdoors on flowers feeding on pollen and nectar. These paper/fabric pests are commonly brought indoors on cut flowers.
Case-Making Cloth Moth
Adult moths are about 6mm in length when their wings are folded and have a brownish color. The 3 dark spots on their wings often become faded as the moth ages. Larvae feed on wool clothing, carpets, rugs, felt, taxidermy mounts, fur, hair, feathers, and lint. The larvae construct a silk-like case, which they will occupy and carry with them. This case is open at both ends, and the larvae can feed out of either end.
Furniture Carpet Beetle
Oval in shape, the furniture carpet beetle has a black body with a spotted pattern of yellow, white, and black scales. The furniture carpet beetle will feed on the same materials as the common carpet beetle, in addition to skins, leather, dead insects, dried blood, dead mice, etc. These paper/fabric pests often breed in abandoned wasp nests, behind baseboards, in animal trophies or rugs, and dead animals in chimney flues.
Foreign Grain Beetle
The foreign grain beetle has a reddish-brown, flattened body. They feed on plant and animal debris and are attracted to damp and moldy grains. They can also be associated with mold found in bathrooms. Adults are strong fliers and are attracted to lights at night, entering homes through screens. These beetles are often found in new construction and can remain present until the wood is completely dried out.
Indian Meal Moth
The Indian meal moth is a common pantry pest found throughout Missouri homes and food storage facilities. Adult moths are easily identifiable by their distinctive wing pattern – pale gray near the body that transitions to a reddish-brown color on the outer half, with a wingspan of about half an inch. While the adults don’t feed or cause direct damage, their worm-like larvae are the destructive stage, appearing as dirty white caterpillars that contaminate food sources with their feeding activity and silken webbing. These opportunistic pests show a remarkable ability to infest a wide variety of dried goods, from grains and nuts to processed foods like crackers and chocolate, and even pet foods and bird seed. The larvae leave behind telltale signs of their presence, including webbing on food surfaces, small holes in packaging, and visible silk-lined tunnels through infested products.
Red Flour Beetle
The red flour beetle is reddish brown in color and is similar in appearance to the confused flour beetle. It is a common pest in stored grain and flour products, thriving in warm, humid environments like pantries and grain storage facilities. While it primarily feeds on broken kernels and processed grain, its presence can lead to significant contamination due to its ability to infest and reproduce rapidly. The red flour beetle can fly, but only for short distances. Its feeding behavior is identical to the confused flour beetle.
Silverfish
The silverfish have a teardrop-shaped, silvery body with three long bristle-like appendages on the tail end of their bodies. Silverfish tend to hide in cracks and crevices during the day, and can be found in living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, attics, basements, and garages. They prefer moderate temperatures and high humidity. The silverfish feeds on paper products, wallpaper, wallpaper paste, tissue, and proteins like dried beef or other dead or injured silverfish. Silverfish are a common problem in homes with cedar-shake shingles.
Webbing Cloth Moth
The webbing cloth moth is a small, golden-brown moth with a wingspan of about half an inch. Unlike many other moth species, they prefer to run rather than fly when disturbed. These pests are commonly found in closets, attics, and storage areas where natural fibers are present. They thrive in dark, undisturbed spaces and are attracted to wool, silk, feathers, and other animal-based fabrics. The larvae of the webbing cloth moth cause the most damage, feeding on clothing, upholstery, and stored textiles, often leaving behind silken webbing and irregular holes. Infestations are more common in homes with high humidity and poor air circulation.
