You’ve opened the curtains to take a look outside and you notice small light-colored dots appearing on an area of a window or window screen. Actually, they look like patches of tiny little eggs, hundreds of them.  Come to think of it, perhaps you’ve seen these before.

Well, it’s most likely that a moth has selected your window to lay her eggs. The tiny egg masses turn yellowish and then brownish before the moth larvae hatch. Annoying, yes, but could is this turn into a bigger problem?

Let’s Talk Moths

There are many species of moth. Indeed, there are approximately 11,000 moth species in the United States alone (greater than all bird and mammal species in North America combined). Like their close relatives the butterfly, many can be quite beautiful and great pollinators.

However, there are several types of moths that fall into the category of pests due to the harm and damage they can do to our homes. The infamous clothes moths, or webbing clothes moths, are known for moth damage as they love to munch on wool, hair, leather, synthetic fiber, cotton, linen, silk, and especially cashmere clothing!  However, it’s not the adult clothes moths that cause destruction to the fabrics but rather the larvae that feed on pretty much anything they can get their mouths onto.

These can be a persistent issue so you need to take a professional and thorough approach to keep the clothes moths away. Only by destroying the eggs and disrupting its life cycle that the problem can be solved in the long-term. Clothes moths tend to like indoor dark, warm corners to lay their eggs so these aren’t the ones laying eggs on the outside windows of your home.

The Indian meal moths are another type of moth that loves our homes. They are also commonly called pantry moths because they love to feed on flour, grains, cereals, and pet food as well as herbs or dried fruit. That’s where Indian meal moths lay their eggs and the larvae get busy, eating through paper and cardboard boxes to get to those pantry goodies.

The site of these small grey moths fluttering around in your cupboard or seeing the small caterpillars wriggling about in your bag of flour can be quite alarming and disgusting. Again, they are a significant problem if you have an infestation problem and will need to take some serious initiative in ridding yourself of this type of pest.

Pantry moths are also not likely to lay their eggs on windows. There are also several types of moth that are destructive to your garden and yard. They would include armyworms, or cutworms, whose caterpillars love to feed during the night on turf grass, plants, flowers, leaves of crops and just about anything green it can find.

Adult moths appear brown or black with stripes/blotches. Gypsy moths are also a problem for the damage they do during the caterpillar stage, as they love almost any type of tree including oak, hemlock, beech, birch, willow, and apple. Gypsy moths eat tree leaves leaving them susceptible to disease and parasites which can hinder tree growth or ultimately death.

If you have a lot of moth activity in the yard during mid to late summer, it can indicate that there may be some cutworms, gypsy moths or even armyworms in your yard. These are the emerging adults that have successfully completed their life cycle.

This means they were recently larvae (caterpillars) in the immediate area and would have been feeding on the local vegetation. If you notice evidence of damage to your grass, trees, and garden then you will need to take a dedicated approach to eliminating them before they become a serious infestation.

Why Are They Laying Eggs On My Windows?

Actually, it’s not uncommon to have moths lay their eggs on windows or window screens.  Indeed, there is a reason why they may have selected your home and windows to lay their eggs. To better understand, here are a few important factors.

Drawn To The Light

We all know that most nocturnal insects are attracted by light. Female moths can be drawn to lay their eggs near a light source, usually in the evening when the lights are on indoors. By drawing the curtains and reducing the visibility of indoor light, you may be able to also reduce the chance of a moth selecting your particular window.

It’s That Time Of Year Again

Moths tend to lay their eggs towards the end of summer and early fall. You may notice that’s when you may start to get the little patches of eggs on windows, screen doors and other places around the home (outer walls, siding). They do favor buildings and other man-made structures for laying their eggs.

Love is in the Air

We mentioned the influence of light in attracting moths to the home. A female moth is drawn to the light and active around your windows (banging upon them, or laying her eggs) can leave her scent for a long time, even after she is gone.

The female moth scent is very strong and signals male moths from miles away to come looking for love. Where there was one, there may soon be many moths waiting for extended times for the chance to mate. The outdoor lighting around homes, as well as protected areas from wind and rain, will encourage moths to stick around.

Bigger populations of moths will eventually result in mating and laying of eggs on areas of the building. With the vegetation from a front or back yard (grass, trees, and garden), there is plenty of food supply for the larvae to feed and establish themselves.This may result in extended damage to the vegetation if left untreated.

Removing Moth Eggs From Windows

As soon as you’ve noticed the moth eggs, it’s recommended that you remove them before they hatch into larvae. Again, the larvae stage is the destructive part of the moth lifecycle when they have a feeding frenzy and can damage your vegetation. If it’s a screen, remove it and with a mixture of soap and water, scrub it off and rinse well (a toothbrush or bristle brush will be fine).

On a flat surface such as glass or siding, you can scrap it off and scrub the surface with hot water and soap or window cleaner. The more thorough the cleaning of the general surface will also help to remove the female moth scent and prevent further attraction of male moles to the area.

Summing Up

If you suspect you have a moth problem, it will likely take a dedicated effort to ensure an infestation won’t persist or re-occur each year. To reduce the overall damage to your home, a professional with the know-how, right equipment and treatments (safe and tested), and guarantee of long-lasting results, can be the best way to give you peace of mind.

Our pest control partners have tried and true solutions to eliminate the nuisance and damage moths can have on your home, inside and out. Being a professional means recommending a plan that is right for your home and your budget. It is easy to book the first-visit by calling or booking online so that a pest control specialist can assess how to best eliminate any moth problems or potential damage.