Moths

All 4 species of moths on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 67 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Did you know…?

• Modern control rests on mating disruption: the air is saturated with synthetic female pheromone and the males cannot find the females, a technique that has hugely cut insecticide use in fruit growing.

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• It is also fought with a granulosis virus specific to the species, harmless to any other organism.

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• The exit hole and the damp frass on the surface of the fruit are the sign that the larva has already left: by the time the hole shows, the apple has been occupied for some while.

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• A defoliating pest that can strip whole forests bare; the European females can barely fly.

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• It reached North America by accident: in 1869 Étienne Léopold Trouvelot imported eggs to Medford, Massachusetts, to try crossing it with the silkworm and obtain a disease-resistant caterpillar. They escaped from his garden.

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• He warned the local entomologists and nothing was done; twelve years later the population exploded and the first government insect eradication campaign in history was launched, and failed.

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• Its larvae can break down polyethylene plastic, which is being investigated as a way to tackle pollution.

Ecosystems