Indian Meal Moth

Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella) adults are 8 – 10mm in length with 13 – 20mm wingspans. The outer half of the moths forewings is bronze, copper, or dark grey in colour, while the upper half are yellowish-grey, with a dark band at the intersection between the two. The moth larvae are off-white with brown heads. When these larvae mature, they are usually about 17mm long. Pest status is major and widespread, though not affecting field grown crops, only stored cereal grain and flour. Damage to grain is the result of larvae feeding on the seed germ, reducing the dry grain weight. The food they infest will often seem to be webbed together and with larvae droppings. Infestations at high level can be severely detrimental to product quality.