- parasitic wasps against clothes moths
- parasitic wasps against food moths
- Parasitic wasps: Effective against lice, whiteflies and the like
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Moths are annoying pests. Find out here how you can effectively fight textile moths and food moths with parasitic wasps.
The parasitic wasp (Trichogramma evanescens) is an extremely useful helper when it comes to controlling textile and food moths. She is a parasite that lays its eggs inside its host's eggs. With a size of just 0.4 mm, the parasitic wasp can hardly be seen with the naked eye. In addition, the parasitic wasp has no effect on humans, does not sting and disappears on its own once all of the host's eggs are parasitized. We'll tell you how you can use parasitic wasps as beneficial insects against textile moths and food moths and where you can buy the little creatures.
parasitic wasps against clothes moths
The clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) is a true moth (Tineidae) distributed worldwide. It grows to around six to nine millimeters in size. The butterfly lays its eggs on textiles, preferably clothing made from animal hair - such as wool, woolen fabrics or furs. The larvae of the clothes moth need the keratin (protein of the animal hair fiber) and leave unsightly holes and a musty smell when they eat.
You can solve this problem easily and elegantly with the Plantura parasitic wasps against clothes moths. The parasitic wasps are delivered in the egg stage on small cards. Over a period of several weeks, these are placed or hung up in the closet near the infested items of clothing. The relatively lengthy control of the clothes moth is necessary to ensure that all generations of the clothes moth are covered. The parasitic wasp hatches from its egg, parasitizes the moth egg and thus prevents the larvae from developing into harmful moths.
parasitic wasps against food moths
There are different types of food moths. These include, for example, the dried fruit moth (Plodia interpunctella), which occurs most frequently, the corn moth (Nemapogon granella), the rice moth (C orcyracephalonica) and the flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella). Food moth infestation is not only unsavory, but also harbors the potential for disease. The larvae feed on the respective food and leave behind their excretions. They are all effectively combated through the use of parasitic wasps.
Here, too, the parasitic wasps are released in the egg stage on special cardboard. The cardboard should be in the immediate vicinity of the spot where the moth infestation was found. More parasitic wasp eggs should be released over a period of several weeks so that the entire development cycle of the moth is covered. The parasitic wasp hatches, parasitizes the moth eggs and thus kills its host. Once the moth problem has been completely eliminated, the parasitic wasp will gradually disappear. The Plantura parasitic wasps against food moths therefore come in four deliveries, which you will receive every 14 days.
Parasitic wasps: Effective against lice, whiteflies and the like
The parasitic wasp is not only useful against moths. However, the host search of the various beneficial species is very specific. It should therefore be checked beforehand whether an interaction between the beneficial and the pest can take place at all in each case. This often requires expert knowledge, which is usually provided by the seller. As mentioned before, Trichogramma evanescens is very effective against clothes moths and food moths. However, the species Trichogramma habrobracon is also conceivable for use against clothes moths.
But the most important thing is: The beneficial insects must find ideal living conditions so that they can multiply faster than the annoying pests. The temperature plays an important role here. For more interesting facts about the use of parasitic wasps and beneficial insects in general, read our plant protection article on scale insect control.