# help identify cocoons **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999 "2004-05-19T18:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/1 "2004-05-19T18:00:20Z")
aliens have invaded my bathroom walls! there were five of them and i’ve taken two alive as prisoners. i don’t have access to a digital camera. the creature look like a miniature hairless caterpillar residing in a one centimeter flatish rice shaped cocoon with two openings at either end. the cocoon sticks to the wall and the creature moves by appearing at either end and drags itself along with the entire cocoon. i’m assuming they are in the larval stage. what are they? do i need to feed/water them? do i need to call ripley? ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/2 "2004-05-19T19:43:56Z")
Without seeing a picture, I can’t be sure but it sounds like you have clothes moths. Specifically the “case-making clothes moth”, Family: Tineidae, Genus: Tinea, various species. The larvae wrap themselves in little cases and drag them around as they munch on clothes, paper, etc. Get thee to a store for some moth-balls, if they still make the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/3 "2004-05-19T20:38:38Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Get thee to a store for some moth-balls, if they still make the stuff. They still do and it’s still as nasty as ever. I would suggest trying one of the herbal repellents first and then moving to the heavy-duty chemicals later. If the herbal ones don’t work, hopefully you’ll catch it before any damage is done and you’re only out a few dollars. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/4 "2004-05-19T20:58:46Z")
Asterion, good call. IIRC, a piece of highly fragrant cedar wood will chase the buggers away, plus other healthier alternatives to moth-balls. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/5 "2004-05-20T16:48:45Z")
herbal repellents? i’ll look around for one. i googled “clothes moths” and came up with [this](http://www.bugpeople.org/taxa/Lepidoptera/Tineidae/FamilyTineidaePage.htm). it’s too thick to be it. the one i have is flat, and they had appeared on the walls in my bathroom, where there isn’t any cloth except for my towel (!) which appears safe since its not touching the wall itself and it’s in one piece… ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/6 "2004-05-20T20:42:45Z")
I’ll be damned. Not clothes moths? I’ll dig around and see if I can come up with another candidate. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/7 "2004-05-21T13:59:01Z")
killed two and added another live one to the prison. what’s breeding them?! i’m feeding them bread crumbs for now, do they need water? how can there be any food for them in the bathroom walls? no wood, no clothes, plenty of water… ---
**Author:** ![Satyricon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Satyricon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyricon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/8 "2004-05-21T14:08:36Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > killed two and added another live one to the prison. what’s breeding them?! > > i’m feeding them bread crumbs for now, do they need water? how can there be any food for them in the bathroom walls? no wood, no clothes, plenty of water… EeeeeeeEEEEwwwwww!! Why do you want to feed them? Kill them! Kill them _ALL!_ I HATE maggoty things… ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/9 "2004-05-21T17:10:01Z")
i \*need \* to know what they are… ^^; ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/10 "2004-05-25T18:53:26Z")
Sorry about bumping this back up, but I am very curious if these critters were ever identified. The larvae should have pupated by now, maybe even emerged as adults. Did they turn out to be clothes moths? The buggers will crawl great distances before pupating, possibly from the carpet or closet and into the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/11 "2004-05-25T20:50:55Z")
Could the larvae be after the wallpaper paste, or maybe they’re rasping the wallpaper itself for sustenance? There should be enough humidity in a bathroom so the little whatever-they-ares don’t get too dehydrated. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-cocoons/245999/12 "2004-05-25T21:46:43Z")
ayup. yesterday, i found an empty shell of the creature in its cocoon replaced with an insect not unlike the casemaking clothes moth illustrated [here](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2107.html). it moves too quickly in flight for me to see if it has fore and hind wings. anyway, instead of “three distinct, dark dots on the outer third of each wing” it appears to have three dots on the entire wing. its legs are also so thin i cannot see any segments. the description of the larva is spot on, except that the case is not round but flat. so either it’s too young to tell or it is some variant of the clothes moth? > [@TwoTrouts](#): > > … The buggers will crawl great distances before pupating, possibly from the carpet or closet and into the bathroom. … :eek: well i had check all the walls in the house and my bathroom walls are the only place i can find them, so i had hoped not to see them elsewhere… > [@quiltguy154](#): > > Could the larvae be after the wallpaper paste, or maybe they’re rasping the wallpaper itself for sustenance? There should be enough humidity in a bathroom so the little whatever-they-ares don’t get too dehydrated. no wallpaper, all tiles. could they be after the tile caulkings?!