Stored grain moth

Aglossa caprealis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pyralidae

Also called: Meal Moth, Murky Meal Moth

Can damage your home. The stored grain moth can damage stored food such as grain, hay, and other dry plant waste.

Source: Wikipedia

Stored grain moth
Photo: Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, CC BY

Aglossa caprealis is a small moth with a wingspan of about 23 to 27 mm. Its larvae feed on dry plant waste, grain, hay, straw, decaying manure and even fatty animal materials, so it can become a pantry pest.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Aglossa caprealis belongs to the Pyralidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The adult’s wingspan ranges from 23 to 27 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae eat dry plant waste, grain such as maize, hay, straw and decaying manure. They can also consume animal carcasses, suet, lard and pork rinds.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are on the wing from June to August, depending on location.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

The flight period is June through August, varying by region.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is thought to be the western Palearctic region.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: introduced in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Stored grain moth photo 2
Photo: Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd., CC BY
Stored grain moth photo 3
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY
Stored grain moth photo 4
Photo: Trevor Edmonson, CC BY
Stored grain moth photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Pyralidae)

Indian-Meal MothIndian-Meal MothPlodia interpunctellaCan damage your homeGreater Wax MothGreater Wax MothGalleria mellonellaMediterranean Flour MothMediterranean Flour MothEphestia kuehniellaCan damage your homeMeal mothMeal mothPyralis farinalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsBee MothBee MothAphomia sociellaNuisance, not dangerousYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothHypsopygia olinalis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglossa_caprealis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.