Talk:Tineola bisselliella

Lavender

I have added lavender to the the list of control measures. However, lavender is more a means of prevention than of control, such as cedar. Once you have the little bastards in your closets, it cannot help much, as the larvae cannot run away well no matter how much they hate the scent. Maybe it would be better to add a "Prevention" category and put both into it? I have no routine as a Wikipedia editor, therefore I ask... Eric75 02:00, August 2009 (CET) —Preceding undated comment added 01:26, 13 December 2009 (UTC).

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A B*****D TO YOU?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth

Fair use rationale for Image:Clothing Moth.jpg

Image:Clothing Moth.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot 05:03, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

Cedar

Cedar is NOT an effective deterrent. I speak from my own experience, and a number of online resources concur:

--Ericjs 21:46, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Dry ice fumication

While dry ice itself is cold, dry ice fumigation does not work by freezing, it works by virtue of the carbon dioxide into which it subliminates. I'm separating this into its own item, as it does not belong under freezing. --Ericjs 22:30, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Silk

As Silk does contain Keratin I wonder if Clothing Moths do feed on silk. It should be mentioned in the article. --84.177.32.82 (talk) 16:13, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Size

The article does not mention the size of the moth nor do any of the photos have a legend or scale. It seems customary to have this type of information included. Arbalest Mike (talk) 00:35, 12 May 2015 (UTC)

Swatting

Although apparently indifferent flyers it is almost impossible to swat them, either in the air or at rest. You aim a good blow, or grab at them in the air, and then look at your palm and they are not there - either they are so light that the induced air current blows them away, or they jump downwards, or both. I find the only reliable way is to use one of the new 'tennis bat' electrocuters - the electrified grid mesh lets the air through and doesn't have a 'wash'. 217.38.77.41 (talk) 22:31, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

Size?

Someone should edit this entry to indicate the size of these moths. It is very hard to identify them without knowing size, and this information does not seem readily available on the web. WLohe (talk) 14:20, 15 May 2016 (UTC)

agree strongly, need wingspan, given for other clothes moths, plus add any other descriptive info distinguishing this from other Tineola spp. D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 23:33, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

P.S. sources exist, I will update when I get to desktop  Done --D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 02:24, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Similar to cryofumigation

This phrase appears three times but cryofumigation itself is not explained in the article. Can someone with more knowledge than me on the topic add it? -- Hux (talk) 05:28, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

Citation number 8 is broken, a wayback machine link works

Citation number 8 does not work, here it is working as a wayback machine link, don't know how to edit the reference tab to insert it myself. https://web.archive.org/web/20150321212241/https://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Webbing-Clothes-Moth.pdf --79.11.109.71 (talk) 09:08, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

 Done . Invasive Spices (talk) 11 April 2022 (UTC)

Image

The insect image os not correct. This is not the Tineola bisselliella. 2804:18:18F5:F78A:1:0:729E:1502 (talk) 14:43, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

Confusing, contradictory information about feeding

Under the heading "Life cycle", the first paragraph states "These [larvae] hatch between four and ten days later into near-microscopic white caterpillars which immediately begin to feed. They will also spin mats under which to feed without being readily noticed and from which they will partially emerge at night or under dark conditions to acquire food" (emphases added). This is confusing because the eggs are generally laid on wool, which is their preferred food. So "emerging...to acquire food" is nonsensical. Can anyone make sense of this, or suggest how it might best be edited for clarity? Bricology (talk) 00:33, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

Incorrect information about egg susceptibility to cold treatment

The current text implies only larvae are killed by cold treatment, while eggs survive, giving an article as reference for the latter claim that doesn't say that at all; the linked study is about adhesive products and mentions temperature treatment only in passing, saying that eggs survive brief exposure to up to -22,6 degrees, which is the reason why exposure times of 2 or more days are usually given in advice for freezer treatment. According to another study that actually tested cold exposure, 99,9 percent of eggs are destroyed by exposure times of 15 hours at -20 degrees (with somewhat higher exposure times at higher temperatures), so that in practice, 3 full days in the freezer at -18 are a well working remedy against eggs. Unfortunately, I am unable to edit the html, so would someone else please correct this. The study on cold treatment is this: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/48274703/0022-474x_2892_2990008-e20160824-23323-va89ll-libre.pdf?1472027900=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DA_model_for_time_temperature_mortality_r.pdf&Expires=1716972877&Signature=UWiGbaW8-lUhym-6U4wDBJxh2Ux63REgc4iepH8Wvh2XNB5nXYHL6w4MqtZp~~JWgJKZhfJ0tMbNPBA7thb8b6q~4ZxHns7VpwQWriE4wjfS8qwefXLHAm1VKtwzx7-ga12u4zRB6Kxt2mBIgtbib0GtWvGgsTTarFI4RJaS3zxVl-4s9~pfYZT1HjpN~bFYbxbtbdfUyNWeP63yMMcJzMZM52jSSVQiyOX79g3REYvqynl1~KGmCpIGNzJ93TnFfLNtXqWfmYfGOWluHYh4cYivQXL6AewszUpLL0JxFxrkAmHRqfN61W-dESotk3uvD-mBfG-9dpErAMCPbS24eQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Discussion of removed misleading photo

Prior to my edit a few minutes ago, the article contained the following image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polilla_de_la_Ropa..jpg. I mentioned alongside my edit that I would provide further detail on the talk page, so here it is now.

The caption stated "Clothing damage caused by larvae, with two bisselliella adults present". In fact, even if the damage in the photo is indeed from Tineola bisselliella, the adults in the photo are from a completely different family (Geometridae), which pose no risk to clothing and were adjacent to the clothing damage either by complete coincidence or by having been placed there (dead) by the photographer out of ignorance, not realizing that these moths are unrelated to the ones eating clothing.

Nothing about the moths in the photo is consistent with T. bisselliella – wing shape, patterning, and size are all different. The only thing they have in common is being a drab beige colour overall, a trait shared by a vast number of moth species across families, including not just Tineidae and Geometridae, but also Noctuidae (e.g., Helicoverpa zea), Erebidae (e.g., Chytolita morbidalis), Drepanidae (e.g., Falcaria bilineata), Crambidae (e.g., Agriphila straminella), Depressariidae (e.g., Agonopterix canadensis), and so on.

Continued inclusion of this misleading photo just reinforces the pervasive myth that moths in general eat clothes, rather than a few specific species of very small size such as T. bisselliella. I must emphasize that I am assuming ignorance and not malice on the part of whoever added the photo, but this needed to be addressed regardless.

I'm not sure how to deal with the image itself on Wikimedia, as the Spanish filename is still clearly a mislabelling. If there is anyone who is a fluent speaker (I have a rudimentary understanding via other Romance languages but cannot speak/write myself) and is better-versed in Wikimedia than myself, I would strongly encourage some kind of action correcting the Wikimedia image linked here to prevent further misinformation.

SyntaxW02TheThird (talk) 14:05, 14 June 2025 (UTC)