clothes moth

American  

noun

1. any of several small moths of the family Tineidae, the larvae of which feed on wool, fur, etc., especially Tinea pellionella casemaking clothes moth.

---

clothes moth British  

noun

1. any of various tineid moths, esp Tineola bisselliella, the larvae of which feed on wool or fur

---

Etymology

Origin of clothes moth

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

The conservation charity, which owns the hall, said that despite careful housekeeping, the common clothes moth had been hard to control.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2021

Last year, English Heritage, custodian of many a tapestry and tabard, claimed numbers of the common clothes moth caught in its properties had doubled in five years.

From BBC • May 20, 2018

But the environment is better for the heat-loving common clothes moth, which Dr Sterling says probably originates in Africa.

From BBC • May 20, 2018

By far the most damaging insect, and most at home in modern civilization, is the clothes moth.

From Time Magazine Archive

I experimented on a Cornish chough — an old specimen, infested with maggots or larvae of the "clothes" moth.

From Practical Taxidermy A manual of instruction to the amateur in collecting, preserving, and setting up natural history specimens of all kinds. To which is added a chapter upon the pictorial arrangement of museums. With additional instructions in modelling and artistic taxidermy. by Browne, Montagu