Hi,
Thank you to everyone who replied with the ID of the caterpillar, I did not realise that they moult their skin, fascinating! Hopefully it is a one off and not a sign of an infestation, I might try a couple of moth pheromone traps and see if any adult moths show up. Thanks again, Frances ________________________________ From: pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net <pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net> on behalf of Insect Identification Services Ltd <insecti...@gmail.com> Sent: 10 February 2017 11:48 To: pestlist@museumpests.net Subject: Re: [pestlist] Help identifying larvae Hi Frances, Yes this is most likely to be the larva of one of the 'house moths', possibly a tineid (Tineidae), but possibly an oecophorid (Oecophoridae). An interesting observation being that there is one caterpillar plus two head capsules - this frequently occurs with larvae stuck on monitoring traps. They moult their skin which liberates them from the glue but then become stuck again very quickly, hence another moult and so forth. They sometimes feed on the shed skin, leaving the cast head capsule - you will note that the head capsules get incrementally smaller with each moult as reserves are used up. I have seen up to 5 moults on traps and even larvae that have managed to escaped the trap in doing so. I have observed this behaviour in both tineid moths and Anthrenus larvae (Dermestidae). Best regards, Stuart Hine On 9 February 2017 at 12:25, Louis Sorkin <sor...@amnh.org<mailto:sor...@amnh.org>> wrote: These look like caterpillars. Could be a tineid moth species. You'll have to do some sleuthing to find out what could be infested. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E. | Entomologist, Arachnologist, Myriapodologist Entomophagy Research Division of Invertebrate Zoology | American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street | New York, New York 10024-5192 sor...@amnh.org<mailto:sor...@amnh.org> 212-769-5613<tel:(212)%20769-5613> voice | 212-769-5277<tel:(212)%20769-5277> fax The New York Entomological Society, Inc. www.nyentsoc.org<http://www.nyentsoc.org/> n...@amnh.org<mailto:n...@amnh.org> ________________________________ From: pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net<mailto:pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net> <pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net<mailto:pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net>> on behalf of Frances Cooper <f.coo...@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:f.coo...@leeds.ac.uk>> Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2017 5:21:45 AM To: 'pestlist@museumpests.net<mailto:pestlist@museumpests.net>' Subject: [pestlist] Help identifying larvae Hi, I would really appreciate some help identifying the larvae in the attached photo, they are about 5mm long and were found on a pest trap next to a coat stand so it is possible they have been brought in on a coat. Could they be clothes moth larvae or are they too small? [cid:image002.jpg@01D282BE.4FD71AE0] Many thanks, Frances Cooper Frances Cooper Trainee Conservation Technician Special Collections Leeds University Library 01133436375 https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.leeds.ac.uk%2Fspecial-collections&data=01%7C01%7Csorkin%40amnh.org%7Cbb576a7526a84e71b65d08d450d5f843%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=QqTVm9zaZfVREKo7MiGmI4C4T3iQS4UOvaQ2RPjrKSY%3D&reserved=0> https://library.leeds.ac.uk/treasures<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.leeds.ac.uk%2Ftreasures&data=01%7C01%7Csorkin%40amnh.org%7Cbb576a7526a84e71b65d08d450d5f843%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=N%2BqDfZvTcE0Jbikopl4Bn2STLdwwaI%2BGCcc%2FIIaDsgY%3D&reserved=0> @UoLTreasures <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fuollibrary&data=01%7C01%7Csorkin%40amnh.org%7Cbb576a7526a84e71b65d08d450d5f843%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=3b%2FJWJiTrt4Fall%2FHJZr0VQEzxzzyFErCbDDxTTo6jA%3D&reserved=0> [logo sig] Brotherton Library University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT -- Stuart Hine Entomological Consultant [http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/bombuslucorum1/High%20Res%20Logo_zpsa9axq9kw.jpg] W http://www.insectidentification.co.uk/ E i...@insectidentification.co.uk<mailto:i...@insectidentification.co.uk> T +44 7392 854405 Registered in England and Wales: 10153092
