Imported Cabbageworm vs Casemaking Clothes Moth

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Imported Cabbageworm Casemaking Clothes Moth
Scientific Name Pieris rapae Tinea pellionella
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Pieridae Tineidae
Size 45-50 mm wingspan 10-15 mm wingspan
Habitat Gardens Underground
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions Worldwide Cosmopolitan
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Imported Cabbageworm

A common white butterfly whose velvety green caterpillars are among the most familiar vegetable garden pests. Adults are the small white butterflies frequently seen fluttering over gardens.

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Did You Know?

Despite being called a cabbageworm, it is actually a butterfly caterpillar, not a worm or moth larva.

Casemaking Clothes Moth

A small silvery-brown moth whose larva constructs a portable silken case that it drags along as it feeds. It is a significant pest of furs, woolens, and museum specimens.

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Did You Know?

The larva never leaves its portable case, enlarging it as it grows by adding fibers from whatever material it is eating.