Grease moth
The grease moth is a dark greyish-brown moth that likes to live near people. It hides in dark corners of barns, cellars and kitchens. Its pale yellow markings look a bit like the stripes of a tabby cat.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillars spin silk through the flour they live in, which ruins it.
The adults even nibble butter and other fats.
It hides in dark corners by day and flies at dusk.
It is drawn to light and to sugar.
Most asked questions about Grease moth
?Is the grease moth harmful?
It is harmless to people, but its caterpillars can spoil flour and grain in the pantry.
?What does the grease moth eat?
Caterpillars eat dry grain foods like flour, and adults eat butter, fat and grease.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Aglossa cuprina
- Named by
- Zeller, 1872
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Pyralidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pyralidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Australia and Oceania, North America, South America
Where the facts come from
- Aglossa cuprina (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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