Page 41 - Mothmageddon

JONATHAN BERLIAND & GRAHAM WARREN
Seven days after being laid, the pantry moth eggs will hatch and that’s when the feeding begins. As it’s working through your food, the worm-like larvae goes through five stages of development. They then find a place to pupate.
By the time the larvae has gone through those developmental stages, it will have wreaked havoc on the first two inches of any food source (due to the waste products it’s left behind).
The larvae will develop in between 42 and 56 days. Sometimes it will seek cracks and crevices away from its original food source. The pupa stage lasts between 15 and 20 days.
When the moth leaves the pupa stage, it begins to look for a mate. The female will fly throughout your house, looking for a mate. During that stage, she releases a pheromone (or scent) to help the male moth find her so she can lay her eggs.
The adult moth will die a week or two later.
(You’ll find details of how to deal with a food moth infestation in Chapter 8: ‘How to Get Rid of Food Moths’.)
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