Pyralidae

62.063 Mediterranean Flour Moth Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, 1879

Adventive

Similar species:

Forewing: 9 to 12mm

Habitats: Synanthropic. Granaries, flour mills and bakeries.

Habits: The moth flies from dusk. It cannot survive the winter outside, but has occasionally been trapped at light. It can be found on the inside walls of buildings containing its food sources.

Foodplant: The larva feeds mainly on wheat-flour. It lives in silk galleries and webs full of frass and sometimes feeds gregariously and can be a serious pest. It has also been recorded feeding on other stored food, pet foods, chicken feed and insects. It pupates in a cocoon attached to something solid in or near its food source.