Waxworm
Plodia interpunctella (Hübner, 1813)
Status not recordedbutterflies and moths
The waxworm (Plodia interpunctella) is a species in the family Pyralidae, order Lepidoptera.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the waxworm
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the waxworm live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the waxworm as introduced in 18 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them.
- Swedeninvasive
- United Arab Emiratesinvasive
- Austria
- Belarus
- Bulgaria
- China
- Denmark
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Russia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- United States
- Venezuela
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
Is the waxworm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the waxworm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyPyralidae
- genusPlodia
- SpeciesPlodia interpunctella (Hübner, 1813)
Synonyms Ephestia glycinivora, Ephestia glycinivorella, Ephestia interpunctella, Phycis interpunctella, Plodia americana, Plodia castaneella, Plodia glycinivora, Plodia glycinivorella, Plodia interpunctella var. castaneella, Plodia latercula, Plodia zeae, Tinea interpunctalis, Tinea interpunctella, Tinea zeae, Unadilla latercula
Other names and names in other languages (54)
- Flour mothEnglish
- Grain mothEnglish
- Indian meal mothEnglish
- Indian-meal mothEnglish
- MüslimølEnglish
- Pantry mothEnglish
- Weevil mothEnglish
- عثة الطحين الهنديةArabic
- Arna índia de la farinaCatalan
- zavíječ paprikovýCzech
- Gwyfyn Blawd IndiaWelsh
- KakaomølDanish
- HausmotteGerman
- Σκόρος ΤροφίμωνGreek
- palomilla de alacenaSpanish
- lõuna-aidaleedikEstonian
- keittiökoisaFinnish
- KornmølurFaroese
- Pyrale des fruits secsFrench
- עשנור הקמחHebrew
- Bakrenasti moljacCroatian
- aszalványmolyHungarian
- Tarma del ciboItalian
- ノシメマダラメイガJapanese
- 화랑곡나방Korean
- Pietinis ugniukasLithuanian
- Pārtikas svilnisLatvian
- tørrfruktsmalmottNorwegian Bokmål
- VruchtmotDutch
- mklik rodzynkowiecPolish
- Traça-Indiana-da-FarinhaPortuguese
- Южная амбарная огнёвкаRussian
- vijačka paprikováSlovak
- köksmottSwedish
- Kuru meyve güvesiTurkish
- Кінчатка збіжжеваUkrainian
- 印度穀蛾Chinese
- Gwyfynod Blawd IndiaWelsh
- FigenhalvmølDanish
- Tofarvet frøhalvmølDanish
- Tofarvet frømølDanish
- Tofarvet kakaomølDanish
- DörrobstmotteGerman
- KornmotteGerman
- VorratsmotteGerman
- Πλοδία η στικτήGreek
- Pyrale indienne de la farineFrench
- Teigne des fruits secsFrench
- Tarma della pastaItalian
- Tignola fasciata del granoItalian
- Indische meelmotDutch
- Omacnica spichrzankaPolish
- fikonmottSwedish
- indiskt mjölmottSwedish
Relatives of the waxworm
Other species in the same genus Plodia.
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Is the waxworm an invasive species?
In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the waxworm as invasive in 2 countries: Sweden and United Arab Emirates. It lists it as introduced in 18 in all.
What kind of animal is the waxworm?
The waxworm (Plodia interpunctella) belongs to the family Pyralidae in the order Lepidoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
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Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
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Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - Palmer Archipelago penguin measurements (Palmer Station LTER) · CC0 1.0 · 0.1.0
Gorman, K.B., Williams, T.D. & Fraser, W.R. (2014) Ecological sexual dimorphism and environmental variability within a community of Antarctic penguins (genus Pygoscelis). PLoS ONE 9(3): e90081. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090081. Data: Palmer Station Antarctica LTER, via Horst, A.M., Hill, A.P. & Gorman, K.B. (2020) palmerpenguins. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3960218 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
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CreatureData. (2026). Waxworm (Plodia interpunctella). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/waxworm
“Waxworm (Plodia interpunctella).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/waxworm.
@misc{waxworm_2026,
title = {Waxworm (Plodia interpunctella)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/waxworm},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}