{"id":1066,"date":"2021-11-20T04:22:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T04:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interestinganimalfacts.com\/?p=1066"},"modified":"2021-11-20T04:22:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T04:22:44","slug":"what-do-moths-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interestinganimalfacts.com\/what-do-moths-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do Moths Eat?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
What exactly do moths eat? And is there any truth to the rumor that moths eat your clothes? Read on to find out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moths exist all over the world, and are famed for their brief nocturnal lives They are often regarded as a pest in the home, but they are beautiful and remarkable creatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are perhaps seen as less attractive than their cousins, butterflies – but they are no less fascinating and wonderful insects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are members of the order Lepidoptera, just like butterflies – indeed, moths greatly outnumber the number of butterflies and butterfly species. And they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes too – not to mention the absolutely amazing colors and patterns that they can have<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moths exist all over the world – and with so many of them, they must eat a lot of food! Some people say that they\u2019ll even eat right through your clothes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moths only typically live as an adult for a few months, to a year at most – but they can live in a larval stage for much longer before adulthood, and during time, they love to eat! Larvae need to eat a lot in order to have the energy to grow, and so that they can survive to transform into beautiful adult moths!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the wild, eggs are laid by adult moths on or near plants. Inside these eggs, larvae are growing. Moth larvae are also called caterpillars! When the larvae hatch, they need to eat – so they will actually begin to eat the eggshells they just popped out of! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s only their first meal, though – larvae absolutely love to eat, and they will spend the next week or so eating as much as they possibly can! Some moths will only eat from certain plants, but they will all make their way through as much food as they possibly can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t take too many caterpillars to completely devour a crop of plants, which is why gardeners and farmers often hate them so much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason they eat so much is because they\u2019re going to need a lot of energy to grow up! Caterpillars will grow so fast that they have to shed their skin several times while they\u2019re growing. Of course, a caterpillar isn\u2019t a moth yet – it doesn\u2019t have wings! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After growing, they become a chrysalis, where their entire body changes. This is where those all-important wings are made, of course – but that\u2019s not the only change that can happen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some adult moths, such as the Hercules Moth (Coscinocera hercules)<\/em> can\u2019t actually eat at all! Like many adult moths, their bodies lack the teeth that they relied on as a caterpillar. They will rely solely on food that they consumed during their larval stage to give them the energy to live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The adult Hercules Moth can have a wingspan of up to 11 inches – so you can imagine the amount of energy the adult needs to survive for up to nearly 2 weeks if it can\u2019t eat! No surprise then, that the Hercules Moth caterpillar can grow to up to nearly 5 inches long, and spends up to 3 months eating before becoming an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\nClothes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n