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Sticker of Indian meal moth
Bug card No. 0768 of 1,500

Indian meal moth

Plodia interpunctella
Name means: “named after Indian meal, an old American word for cornmeal”
Eats: PlantsMothsHouses and farms6 legs

The Indian meal moth is a small moth with wings that are grey near the body and coppery brown at the ends. It is the little moth people find flying around in kitchen cupboards. Its caterpillars live in flour, cereal, rice and dried fruit.

Lives in
Every continent except Antarctica, in kitchens, pantries and grain stores
Length
0.8 to 1 cm (0.31 to 0.39 in)
Wingspan
1.6 to 2 cm (0.63 to 0.79 in)
Top speed
about 9.9 km/h (6.2 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting, but it spoils stored food.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat stored food like flour, cereal, rice, pasta, nuts, dried fruit, birdseed and even dry pet food.
For real!Photo of Indian meal moth
Picture by Mvuijlst. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Indian meal moth about 1 cm long (0.39 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)

How wide are its wings?

Indian meal moth wings about 2 cm tip to tip (0.79 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailas long as 1.5 grains of rice in a rowwings as wide as 3 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 38 secondsmoves 280 times its own body length every second

How big is Indian meal moth compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillars can chew right through plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

2

Its eggs are so tiny that you can hardly see them without a magnifying glass.

3

A grown caterpillar can crawl a long way to find a place to turn into a moth.

4

The moths are drawn to blue light, and people use that to trap them.

5

It is the only living species in its genus.

you asked

Most asked questions about Indian meal moth

?How do Indian meal moths get into the kitchen?

Usually as tiny eggs or caterpillars hidden in food we bring home, like flour, cereal or dried fruit.

?What do pantry moths eat?

Their caterpillars eat stored dry food like grains, cereal, nuts, dried fruit and pet food.

?Are pantry moths dangerous?

No. They do not bite or sting, but they spoil food.

Myth buster

Myth: The Indian meal moth comes from India.

Truth: No. The name comes from Indian meal, an old American word for cornmeal, which its caterpillars were found eating. It did not even live in India to begin with.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Plodia interpunctella
Named by
Hübner, 1813
Group
Moths
Family
Pyralidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pyralidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Pantry moth, Flour moth, Grain moth, Weevil moth

Where the facts come from

  1. Indianmeal moth (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Mvuijlst. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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