Indian-Meal Moth
Plodia interpunctella (Hübner, 1813)
Family: Pyralidae
Subfamily: Phycitinae
Identification: Forewing base tan to gray with greenish tint when fresh, fading after death. Outer part dull reddish brown, crossed by irregular, inconspicuous, shiny lead-colored lines. Hindwing translucent dirty whitish with grayish brown terminal line.
Wing Span: 1.1-1.6 cm.
Life History: A major pest of grains, grain products, and dried vegetable products. All stages of the life cycle may be found indoors all year. The moth flies to lights outside in warm months.
Flight:
Caterpillar Hosts:
Adult Food:
Habitat:
Range: Originally native to South America but now occurs worldwide because of the transporting of corn meal.
Conservation:
NCGR:
Management Needs:
Comments: NULL
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Verified Sightings
Displaying 1 - 24 of 161 verified sightings
Observation date: Oct 01, 2019
Submitted by: jrmbutterfly
Region: Pima County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Feb 27, 2025
Observation date: Oct 13, 2024
Submitted by: Alison Davies
Region: Lexington County, South Carolina, United States
Verified by: Dennis Forsythe
Verified date: Oct 14, 2024
Observation date: Sep 30, 2024
Submitted by: Cheri Pierce
Region: Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Sep 30, 2024
Observation date: Aug 24, 2024
Submitted by: Alison Davies
Region: Lexington County, South Carolina, United States
Verified by: Dennis Forsythe
Verified date: Aug 27, 2024
Observation date: Aug 03, 2024
Submitted by: KABerry
Region: Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Aug 21, 2024
Observation date: Jan 03, 2024
Submitted by: commentator
Region: Ontario, Canada
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: May 19, 2024
Observation date: Jan 15, 2024
Submitted by: Blue Swallowtail
Region: Adams County, Nebraska, United States
Verified by: J_Martineau
Verified date: Jan 16, 2024
Observation date: Jun 30, 2023
Submitted by: Puccini
Region: Roberts County, South Dakota, United States
Verified by: Mark Wheeler
Verified date: Jul 27, 2023
Observation date: Jul 24, 2023
Submitted by: Bombyx-Aurelia
Region: Quebec, Canada
Verified by: Sue Gregoire
Verified date: Jul 26, 2023
Observation date: Jul 03, 2023
Submitted by: vegangnome
Region: Alberta, Canada
Verified by: davidwdroppers
Verified date: Jul 08, 2023
Observation date: Jun 10, 2023
Submitted by: jrtindall
Region: Mercer County, New Jersey, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Jun 10, 2023
Observation date: May 11, 2023
Submitted by: Staci Gibson
Region: Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: May 12, 2023
Observation date: Mar 16, 2023
Submitted by: naj.pilla
Region: Porter County, Indiana, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Mar 22, 2023
Observation date: Mar 18, 2023
Submitted by: catbirdcat
Region: Carroll County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Mar 18, 2023
Observation date: Sep 24, 2016
Submitted by: corvairbob
Region: United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Feb 05, 2023
Observation date: Jul 02, 2022
Submitted by: J_Martineau
Region: Crook County, Wyoming, United States
Verified by: J_Martineau
Verified date: Dec 05, 2022
Observation date: Sep 13, 2022
Submitted by: lisagorn
Region: Otsego County, New York, United States
Verified by: Sue Gregoire
Verified date: Dec 04, 2022
Observation date: Aug 25, 2014
Submitted by: finatic
Region: Pima County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: kellyrichers
Verified date: Nov 18, 2022
Observation date: Mar 02, 2020
Submitted by: R Ballantyne
Region: Pope County, Arkansas, United States
Verified by: owlbyr
Verified date: Sep 15, 2022
Observation date: Aug 22, 2022
Submitted by: Bombyx-Aurelia
Region: Quebec, Canada
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Aug 23, 2022
Observation date: Jul 28, 2022
Submitted by: robpendergast
Region: Portage County, Wisconsin, United States
Verified by: Ilona L.
Verified date: Aug 02, 2022
Observation date: Oct 26, 2018
Submitted by: gcotterl
Region: Riverside County, California, United States
Verified by: mcduck
Verified date: Jun 08, 2022
Observation date: May 16, 2022
Submitted by: Niayre
Region: DeKalb County, Georgia, United States
Verified by: Mikelchap
Verified date: Jun 06, 2022
Observation date: Jun 03, 2022
Submitted by: ships333
Region: Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Jun 06, 2022
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