Question

Of what are mothballs composed? And why should they deter moths?

Answer 1

Moths don't like naphthalene.........

Explanation:

And this is something that really makes me peeved. You save a special shirt/suit for a special occasion, and the time you do have the occasion to wear it you find that moth larvae have dined on it..........

There was an old tradition that if you stored your clobber in cedar boxes, the oil in the cedar would deter the moths........of course, the cedar box loses this moth deterrent over time. Well you use moth balls `C_10H_8`, and `"1,4-dichlorobenzene"`, which are both cheap, and benign to humans, and these solid materials can be stored in pockets and act as a deterrent to moths and their larvae.