Almond moth

Cadra cautella (Walker), the almond moth, shows gray forewings with indistinct, diffuse maculation; the patterning is poorly defined and low-contrast against the ground color. Adult wingspan is 16–30 mm. Overall, the forewings present a uniformly ashen aspect, yielding a discreet, understated appearance in repose.

Larvae invade stored grain and preferentially abrade the germ and bran, stripping the nutrient‑rich embryo and outer layers of kernels. Through successive instars they spin copious silken webbing, forming galleries that bind flour, fines, and broken grain into dense clumps, visibly contaminating product and causing caking. In volume, this silk fouls augers, sifters, and conveyors, hindering machinery and maintenance. Infestations also load lots with frass, larval and pupal exuviae, cast head capsules, and fragmented lepidopteran remains—clear indicators of defilement that depress quality grades and marketability. The result is measurable loss of edible material, increased dockage, and product that is difficult to handle, clean, and process.

Signs of Almond moth infestation in stored grain — Cadra cautella (Walker) — include: - Holes perforating flexible food packaging, caused by larval feeding and emergence. - Heavy silken webbing that mats kernels, fines and dust, often loaded with frass, and accumulating on conveyors, augers and other machinery. - Larvae (cream to pinkish, dark head capsule) migrating and feeding in surface layers and seams; silken pupal cocoons tucked in crevices. - Cast larval skins (exuviae) and pelletized feces (frass) within webbed clumps. - Adults (imagos), small grey‑brown pyralid moths, resting with roof‑like wings on walls, screens or near lights. - Localized caking and off‑odors resulting from larval activity. These indicators—especially dense webbing with frass and packaging perforations—strongly implicate C. cautella in storage environments.

Almond moth (Cadra cautella) completes its life cycle within stored commodities. Females oviposit broadly throughout the food source. At 30°C, eggs hatch in about three days, and neonate larvae disperse, entering packages through minute openings. Larvae bore into the commodity, binding particles with silken webbing to form feeding galleries. They tolerate low humidity and low‑moisture foods. In temperate regions, larvae may enter facultative diapause as temperature and photoperiod decline; this can last several months. When fully grown, last‑instar larvae exit the infested substrate to find protected pupation sites. Adults (imagines) emerge, mate quickly, live briefly, and do not feed.

Prefers synanthropic stored‑product environments—mills, warehouses, and homes—with grain residues and dust. Adults are crepuscular, resting on walls by day; larvae colonize only superficial layers of bagged and bulk grain, thriving in residual debris.

Brown house moth (Hofmannophila pseudospretella) Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella)