Ephestia elutella

Ephestia elutella

The butterfly inhabits warehouses, mills, granaries, warehouses for dried fruits, herbs, mushrooms, shops and homes.

The caterpillar causes damage to the grains of wheat, corn, rice,

flour, bran, confectionery, coffee, nuts, tobacco, botanical herbarium and entomological collections and other

Butterfly is 8 mm., lives 10-16 days and lays about 300 eggs during its lifetime.

When it feeds, the caterpillar tangles 20-30 grains with silk in the form of a ball.

Broken or crumbled grains favor the development and the reproduction of the vermin.