Many British households will be turning up their thermostats as the colder weather begins to arrive in November.
But experts have warned that this can provide the perfect habitat for moths to invade your home and feast on your clothes and carpets.
And the pesky insects not only destroy your fabrics, as one Notting Hill mansion owner found out the hard way.
Iya Patarkatsishvili and her husband bought the Victorian property for £32.5million – but were distraught to find it swarming with ‘millions’ of the insects.
Moths were landing on their toothbrushes, cutlery and plates of food, while glasses of wine had to be tipped down the sink when moths were found floating in them.
The insects destroyed their clothes causing £50,000 worth of damage, and the couple are now suing the former owner over the ‘infestation’.
To help you avoid a similar situation, experts have revealed their top tips for stopping the insects from taking over your home.
From dehumidifiers to lavender bags and vacuum-packing clothes, taking action early can help avoid a full-blown infestation.
Why do moths enter your home?
The main reason moths enter your home is they’re seeking warmth, which provides the required conditions for laying their eggs.
Higher temperatures are known to accelerate moths’ egg-laying, making wardrobe invasions more likely, according to British Pest Control Association (BPCA).
‘Moths, like many pest species, rely on certain conditions in order to thrive,’ a spokesperson for the BPCA told MailOnline.
‘The warmer temperatures in summer give moth life cycles a helping hand – however increasingly warmer winters and temperature-controlled buildings mean that they can be a problem at other times of the year too.’
By far, the common clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) is the most widespread moth pest around the world and has been in the UK since the 1800s.
But another species, the Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) – also known as the pantry moth – is known to contaminate food.
There are of course many moth species not considered clothes-chomping pests, which you may find repeatedly bumping into lightbulbs.
What damage can moths cause?
Although they can be annoying, adult clothes moths that you see flying through your rooms do not feed on your fabrics at all.
In actual fact, it’s their larvae – the little wormlike wingless juveniles – that eat up your fur, silk, wool, tweed, sheepskin and even feathers.
The larvae feed on proteins including keratin that are found in these animal-derived clothing fibres to fuel their growth process.
As well as clothes, they can cause irreparable and costly damage to carpets, upholstered furniture such as sofas, blankets and other soft furnishings.
Meanwhile, another species, the Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) – also known as the pantry moth – can often be seen flying around kitchens and food stores and likes to infest cupboards by laying eggs.
Its hatched larvae can penetrate packaging materials, such as paper, cellophane and polythene, according to the BPCA.
This means it’s able to live in their food of choice stored in your cupboard or pantry whether it’s flour, biscuits or breakfast cereal.
‘The trouble arises when female moths lay their eggs in or around our food,’ said professor Tanya Latty, an entomologist at the University of Sydney.
‘The tiny eggs hatch into barely visible cream-coloured caterpillars small enough to crawl into poorly sealed food containers. There, they begin to feed.
‘As they grow, caterpillars produce large amounts of silk webbing and faeces, both of which can contaminate food.’
Professor Latty adds to be on the lookout for ‘suspicious webs in a cereal box’, which may be a sign that pantry moths have settled there.
Other species, such as the cork moth and the European grain moth, are known to lay its eggs in wine corks if they are not covered by a seal.
Cork also offers a food source for the larvae, which leads to cork decay and affects the quality of the wine.
The liquid could also be contaminated with moth larvae, meaning expensive unopened bottles might have to be chucked away.
It’s unclear if this issue affected the billionaire homeowners in Notting Hill, who said they had to pour wine down the sink after finding moths floating in them.
What if I accidentally consume moth larvae?
According to Professor Latty, the good news is that accidentally eating moth larvae is unlikely to cause any health problems.
However, it’s not a nice experience to find the tiny wriggly caterpillars in the cereal you’ve been enjoying all week.
‘Given how common they are in stored food, you’ve probably already unknowingly consumed many moth eggs and larvae,’ the academic said.
‘Thank goodness caterpillars are generally an excellent source of protein.’
How do I protect my home from moths?
Because clothes moths like a warm and humid room to lay eggs, a good tip is to turn down your thermostat, keep rooms well-ventilated and use a dehumidifier in strategic locations, such as outside your wardrobe.
Also, frequently vacuum and clean your carpets or rugs, particularly in the corners and crevices, to remove eggs – and dispose of the vacuum contents regularly.
Putting lavender bags, fresh conkers and eucalyptus and bay leaves inside wardrobe drawers is also said to help.
These natural substances are though to produce gases that work as a mild insecticide killing both moths and larvae.
Another method of controlling the pests include purchasing moth balls, which release fumes that are toxic to moth larvae.
Other ways to limit the damage they have in the home are vacuum-packing clothes, storing high-risk items in the freezer and switching to moth-proof carpets.
Washing clothes at a high temperatures – with water heated above 55°C (131°F) during the cycle – is also effective to kill any eggs.
To protect your food, BPCA recommends keeping it in tightly-sealed containers, such as stackable plastic tubs, rather than its original packaging once opened.
BPCA adds: ‘Regularly use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of food debris in cupboards, removing that tempting, easy-to-access food source.’
Unfortunately there’s a risk of buying food that has already been infested, but in this case the shop should offer a refund.
Are all moths bad?
Wildlife experts stress that not all moth species are a threat to your clothes and food, although some pose a danger in other ways.
For example, the hairy larvae of the oak processionary moth found throughout England can cause itchy skin rashes and asthma attacks.
Further afield, the giant silkworm moth (Lonomia obliqua) in South America unleashes bristles that inject a potentially deadly venom.
However, out of the approximately 2,500 species of moth in the UK, the vast majority are considered harmless, says the BPCA, and many will not enter homes.
Britain is home to some very beautiful species, like the small emperor moth, the cinnabar moth, scarlett tiger moth and the elephant hawk moth.
Some moths are active in the day, while nocturnal ones are famously attracted to indoor lights, a phenomenon known as positive phototaxis.
The reason why they do this has never been confirmed, although a popular theory is they mistake lamps for moonlight which they use to orient themselves as they fly.
