Photo © Rob Edmunds

Indian Meal Moth

Plodia interpunctella

Checklist Number
62.062 [B&F: 1479]

Verification
Record will be accepted (subject to date and location checks)

Classification

Family:Pyralidae
Subfamily:Phycitinae
Genus:Plodia
Species:interpunctella
Authority:(Hübner, [1813])

Local in barns, warehouses and granaries, also sometimes in and around houses, throughout the British Isles, rarely recorded in the wider countryside. Thoroughly naturalised, through accidental introduction in dried goods, and now a frequent, often abundant, pest of warehouses, first recorded in Britain in 1847. Distributed erratically across Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, where often found in bird seed and similar products, from pet shops. Wingspan 14-20 mm. Larva feeds on dried goods, cereals, grain, dried fruit, nuts and dead insects, causing sufficient damage to be a serious pest in some areas.

The abundance in each month is indicated as follows:

No records
Very occasional
Irregular
Uncommon
Off-peak, but not unusual
Off-peak, but not unusual
Main flight time
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adult
Larval

Records by week (adult)

Records by week (larval)

No Larval records to show.