Moths

• Moths are one particular kind of insect known to feed in wool fabric. In particular, the two types of moths that can be found on your clothes are webbing clothes moths and casement clothes moths. The moths are a yellowish color, while their larvae are a whitish color with brown or black heads. A female moth can lay anywhere between 100 and 300 eggs at a time and will lay eggs about four times each year, with each gestation period lasting less than two weeks. When the eggs hatch, the larvae begin to feed on fabric, such as wool.
  
  

Beetles

• Carpet beetles are another type of insect that feeds on stored fabrics, such as wool. There are four varieties of beetles that feed on fabrics: the black carpet beetle, the carpet beetle, the furniture carpet beetle and the varied carpet beetle. The beetles will typically be brown, black or mottled white in color and produce whitish colored larvae. These larvae are hatched over a less than two week period with only one hatching occurring each year. Much like the moth larvae that feed on fabric, beetle larvae are also guilty of making a meal of your stored fabrics.
  
  

Other Bugs

• Moths and beetles are not the only insects attracted to eating your stored fabrics, such as wool. Silverfish, crickets, beetles and roaches have also been found to eat fabrics. However, they are typically only attracted to the fabric because of residual perspiration, food or beverage spillage. While trying to eat these things, they also end up eating the fabric as well.
  
  

Prevention

• The most important thing you can do to prevent insects from eating your fabrics is to protect the fabric and keep the insects from gaining access to the fabrics. Start by washing your fabrics before you intend to store them. Once the fabrics are dry and folded, store them in storage containers. Keep the storage containers in a cool, dry place. Fabric-eating insects do not care for dry conditions and cool conditions slow down the rate at which their eggs hatch. Finally, you can use moth balls in the area you are storing your fabrics to keep fabric-eating bugs at bay.