House moths are a nuisance because they settle in dark, dusty places down the sides of upholstered furniture, under carpets and in between floorboards, where the grubs feed on organic debris in the dust. In the wild they prefer to live on dried animal remains and debris in the nests and burrows of birds and animals, so old birds' or wasps' nests in the house can be a source of eggs and larvae.
The brown house moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella is the most common. Its wings are brownish grey with three black spots. Less common is the white-shouldered house moth Endrosis sarcitrella, which grows to just over one centimetre and has a conspicuous white head and thorax with blotchy greyish-brown wings.