Indian meal moth

Hodges #

6019

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked
SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Indian meal moth is a common, small to medium-sized, exotic, knot-horn moth. It is native to South America. It now occurs worldwide on every continent except Antarctica. It occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada. It is found wherever dried foods are stored, including in grain bins, in food storage warehouses, grocery stores, pet stores, restaurants, and people’s homes.

Indian meal moth is a serious pest of all kinds of stored and vegetable products, including birdseed, bread, cereal, dried fruits, flour, nuts, pasta, rice, soup mixes, spices, and plant based dry pet food. These products are shipped around the world and stored in large quantities in warehouses near heavily populated urban areas, furthering the spread of this pest. Sealed containers can become infested because the larvae are able to chew through plastic and cardboard. They are often responsible for the webbing seen in packaged products like flour, corn meal, spices, cocoa, coffee, and even instant coffee. Once established, they are difficult to eradicate.

Adults are 5⁄16″ to ⅜″ (8 to 10 mm) in length and have a 11⁄16″ to ¾″ (18 to 20 mm) wingspan. The forewing length is 3⁄16″to 5⁄16″ (5.0 to 8.5 mm). The body is long and narrow.

The head appears small. In both sexes, the antennae are simple, not plumose, and the sensory appendages (palps) attached to the upper lip (labrum) are long and projected forward in front of the head. There are two large compound eyes and three small simple eyes (ocelli).

The wings are long and narrow. When at rest they folded flat and overlapped, giving the moth a streamlined appearance. The forewing color is variable, yellowish brown, reddish brown, grayish brown, or gray. The front half is pale, the rear half is dark and mottled, and the two areas are separated by a bold, black or dark, oblique, antemedial line. The postmedial and subterminal lines are often inconspicuous due to the dark mottling.

The hindwing is pale gray with a slightly darker terminal line.

Size

Total length: 5⁄16″ to ⅜″ (8 to 10 mm)

Forewing length: 3⁄16″to 5⁄16″ (5.0 to 8.5 mm)

Wingspan: 11⁄16″ to ¾″ (18 to 20 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

Grain bins, food storage warehouses, grocery stores, pet stores, restaurants, and people’s homes

Ecology

Season

Year-round

Behavior

Life Cycle

Larva Food/Hosts

All kinds of dried, plant-based foodstuffs

Adult Food

Adults do not eat