Characteristics

• Moths feel powdery to the touch due to thousands of delicate, prismatic scales and hairs that cover their wings. Their feathered antennae do not contain a club at the end. Moths use this body part to smell, and one species, the cecropia, impressively detects the scent of its mate up to 7 miles away. Moths are active at night and they're especially drawn to artificial light. During the day, they rest with their wings straight out or hugged around their body.
  
  

Life Cycle

• Life begins as a tiny round egg deposited by the adult female moth on a leaf or some other intended food source. The larva stage follows. As a creeping caterpillar, it feeds and grows rapidly before entering the pupa phase. The moth-caterpillar will spin a cocoon around itself and enter a state of hibernation that lasts anywhere from a few days to several months, depending on the species. The caterpillar will turn into a mushy soup form, but by the time it emerges from the cocoon it's a fluttering insect with wings. The imago stage is a time of freedom, as the adults fly, court, mate, and colonize new habitats.
  
  

Damaging Effects

• Moths damage crops and clothing when they're in the young larva stage, as many adult moths do not have mouths with which to eat. They're more resistant to pesticides than mosquitoes and flies, and they present a significant problem to the agricultural industry worldwide. The gypsy moth feeds on numerous plants, especially oak and aspen trees in the Ozark and Appalachian Mountains of the United States. In temperate climates, the codling moth can't resist fruit trees, while the diamondback moth likes broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Other species prefer their meals indoors in the form of clothing made from fibers that naturally contain protein such as silk and wool. If moth larvae have infested an item of clothing, freeze the entire garment at a temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for several days, then clean the garment. This process completely destroys the larvae.
  
  

Cultivated for Silk

• Several species of moths are deliberately raised for their cocoons, which the larvae spin from a fine, yet strong, fiber secreted from its head. Silk farm workers boil the cocoons for about five minutes, then unwind the fiber in a continuous thread. Three thousand cocoons are required to make just 1 lb of raw silk. Each year, the silk industry produces nearly 300 million lbs. of raw silk worth about $250 million.