A small moth, infesting houses, the larva of which is very destructive to woollen fabrics, feathers, furs, etc., on which it feeds, and of which it forms its chrysalis case. The name comprises several species of Tinea.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v. Tinea, Making themselves cases of different materials in the manner of the Tinea or cloaths moth while in the worm state.
1836–9. Todd, Cycl. Anat., II. 867/1. Minute species, among which are the destructive clothes-moths.
1885. H. C. McCook, Tenants Old Farm, 87. Pellionella, the only ‘clothes-moth’ known in the United States.
