topic Re: Pantry Moths in Kitchen

Pantry Moths

beach-mom — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 02:20:20 GMT

I've been struggling with them for a while now. Each time I think they're gone, I run into one flying around the house, and I'm climbing on chairs and sofas trying to catch them. The kitties are enjoying catching them. DD went to use macaroni that was 3/4 full and not that old, and there were a bunch in there! I told her to toss the whole thing. I hate to throw everything out that's in there, but I might have to. Any advice? What can I do to get rid of them for good? Do I have to call an exterminator? TIA!

Re: Pantry Moths

homedecor1 — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 02:40:42 GMT

@beach-mom

Call the exterminator!!! My friends battled these moths for months -- everytime they thought they were gone NOPE.

They emptied every closet & of course, pantry area. The exterminator told them they had "nests" (or what the proper term was) and source was bag of bird seed & cat chow kept in pantry!

Once he exterminated he set these "sticky boxes" all over & within a month they were gone!

Living in FL I keep everything in my Lock n Lock (I should have stock in LNL😉) that is packaged in "boxes". When I get home from grocery store I transfer all pastas, crackers, etc. to them. I can't stand the bugs here😡 & I don't want them invading my house!

Re: Pantry Moths

Scooby Doo — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 02:53:20 GMT

Yes, call an exterminator. One time I stored a bag of bird seed in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. That stuff usually has eggs in it that you can't see (that's what the exterminator told me). I took everything out of the cabinets and cleaned. Two days later they were back. The eggs hatched and little worm like things turned into moths. They hatched behind the cabinets where I couldn't get to them. So I called the exterminator, he had me empty the kitchen completely (again), and he sprayed. I had to leave the kitchen empty for a couple of days, then clean (again). Nasty little things. No more bird seed in this house......ever.

I threw out everything that wasn't in a can or in a tight container.

Re: Pantry Moths

pupwhipped — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 03:11:18 GMT

I could share my gross story with you but I will spare everyone. What you need to do is get pantry moth traps. I ordered mine from Amazon as I live in a small town and no local place sold them. Follow the instructions and get these traps out ASAP. They are your best line of defense. BUT, if you have a continuing source of food that they can feed on then you might not win. Google all the products they love to eat. My source was black oil sunflower seeds that we feed our outdoor birds. You may have to throw out some of your food items, and others you may need to keep in Lock and Lock type containers for awhile until the problem is gone.

Re: Pantry Moths

tiny 2 — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 03:06:41 GMT

Usually they come from birdseed. You will have to throw many things out and check everything!!! After that the little sticky traps that attract them to the trap will usually do the job. You have to make sure you remove any larvae.They are attracted to pepper like dried cayenne, packages of Taco seasoning, rice . The first time it happened to me I had the exterminator come . The next time was about 10 years later when I had a bag of infested birdseed in the garage. They found their way inside again. You can get the sticky traps @A-ma-zon. Good Luck ! Oh yeah Lock and Lock for storing rice, pasta etc.

I did not see the above posts when I wrote this.Sorry for the repeat.

Re: Pantry Moths

aubnwa01 — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 03:22:35 GMT

When I still lived up in WA, I got them from bulk peanuts in the shells that I had bought at a feed store to feed the squirrels. I kept finding these little moths flittering all over the place & after seeing & killing about 8 of them realized I had a pest problem & I needed to figure out where they were coming from. I had the plastic bag of peanuts up in a cupboard in my laundry room & the inside of the plastic bag had a bunch of webby looking things in it. Once I got rid of the bag & washed down the inside of the cupboard, I didn't see any more of them.

ETA: The plastic bag was in a brown paper sack in the cupboard, so it wasn't really visible if you looked in the cupboard.

Re: Pantry Moths

x Hedge — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 03:47:11 GMT

Ok, don't laugh. At Dollar Tree, in the kids toys aisle, I bought 3 orange "butterfly nets", which worked great for catching tiny flying pests. They weren't kitchen moths but about the same size.

Rakes and shovels were brought into the basement one year instead of being stored in the garage. The following April something on the yard tools hatched and I had tiny fliers!
It's the ones that are already flying that breed more, so it's imparative that you catch and destroy every one you see flitting about.

Re: Pantry Moths

Lila4Now — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 04:43:39 GMT

Store everything in the pantry in air tight containers, that includes flour, pasta, cereal, cookies, everything. Put items in containers as soon as you bring them home. Eliminate their food source. Store bird seed outside in metal containers. Squirrels will chew through plastic.

Re: Pantry Moths

number one queen — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 04:53:43 GMT

They hate lavender, I bought a bunch of lavender leaves and put them in the pantry, also spread them around the shelves,A bit messy but really helped. I also had small insect huts that I put in cabinets and on top of refrigerator, really helped. All foods store in tight lid containers.We got ours from contaminated bird food, they are hard to get rid of,but you can do it. Good luck!

Re: Pantry Moths

summerwind — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 05:46:55 GMT

For a long time, years ago, I kept bay leaves tucked in my cabinets. Also wonder if peppermint oil would work.

Re: Pantry Moths

homedecor1 — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 05:55:39 GMT

@summerwind

I had problems with these minut ant (size of pin heads) he told me bay leaves in closets where I keep spices. It works!!! Haven't seen them in a very long time --?hope they don't show up now that company coming!!!😉😉

Re: Pantry Moths

Furgirl — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 07:47:06 GMT

Ok, now I'm gonna have to google "what the heck is a pantry moth".

I did and saw the larvae videos. Ewww!

Re: Pantry Moths

CelticCrafter — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 11:25:39 GMT

I store everything in sealed, plastic containers and I don't mix new with old just in case the new has hitchhikers.

Re: Pantry Moths

ptagirl — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:48:56 GMT

@CelticCrafter wrote:
I store everything in sealed, plastic containers and I don't mix new with old just in case the new has hitchhikers.

I also store everything in sealed containers, including dry cat food. I once had a bag of dry cat food with bugs, also a bag of flour, box of cornmeal, box of cakemix, and dry fish coating, all new from the store and with package sealed (you just never know where this stuff is stored).

When I buy groceries, EVERYTHING goes into Lock & Locks. I also don't mix the new with the old in case I accidently bring something home from the store....plus it takes forever to get rid of the worms/moths once noticed (lots of pitching food and cleaning/scrubbing )..pretty much as bad a fruit flies...they come out of nowhere!

I DO NOT store any birdseed in my house and if I buy any bulk nuts, they go in the freezer...been pretty lucky for a long time now....knock on wood....

Re: Pantry Moths

Tigriss — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 23:28:03 GMT

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice. I too have been battling this since I got some seed mix for my parrot. I've used bay leaves but they seem to just ignore it. I've got lavender essential oil, so I'll put some of that out until the pantry moth traps arrive from Amazon. I'm excited. I've cleaned everything out several times and use Bengal sprays for flying insects and then steam cleaned all the cabinets and joinery to further clean the cracks in the cabinets. This didn't work even after I threw out almost everything. I'm going to continue to steam the cabinets and carpets in the house and use the traps and oils, plus I now freeze everything that is grain-based before I use it. I will also be investing in more lock and lock or similar to keep everything.

Re: Pantry Moths

x Hedge — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 23:37:14 GMT

I'd like to hear from anyone who uses Press & Seal or a similar device. I'm wondering if vacuum sealing dry ingredients like flour and cornmeal after each use can keep the Little Critters from spreading around in the kitchen better than L&L.

Re: Pantry Moths

ptagirl — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 23:42:34 GMT

@Tigriss wrote:
Thanks everyone for the excellent advice. I too have been battling this since I got some seed mix for my parrot. I've used bay leaves but they seem to just ignore it. I've got lavender essential oil, so I'll put some of that out until the pantry moth traps arrive from Amazon. I'm excited. I've cleaned everything out several times and use Bengal sprays for flying insects and then steam cleaned all the cabinets and joinery to further clean the cracks in the cabinets. This didn't work even after I threw out almost everything. I'm going to continue to steam the cabinets and carpets in the house and use the traps and oils, plus I now freeze everything that is grain-based before I use it. I will also be investing in more lock and lock or similar to keep everything.

I know how hard it is to get rid of these nasty bugs. If you're still seeing moths, they may be in a packaged box of something ..I had that happen before. I thought I had them taken care of...but....then I opened up a cornbread muffin mix and it was full of bugs...I now inspect everything I bring in and dump everything into sealed containers. That way if there's anything in there I'll know right off the bat before using it.

Re: Pantry Moths

Tigriss — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 23:44:00 GMT

@x Hedge These things eat through plastics and get into cardboard boxes/containers. They will eat through several layers of plastic and get into everything grain based. They are like weevils, so hard to get rid of.

Re: Pantry Moths

ptagirl — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 23:51:16 GMT

@x Hedge wrote:
I'd like to hear from anyone who uses Press & Seal or a similar device. I'm wondering if vacuum sealing dry ingredients like flour and cornmeal after each use can keep the Little Critters from spreading around in the kitchen better than L&L.

I haven't tried vacuum sealing anything, but just seperating it from the other things in the pantry helps (you could even use ziploc bags).

I find If I put it in a lock & lock, I know it is sealed nicely and I don't have to worry about it too much.

I've had pretty good luck doing it this way...if there's anything in there it can't get out, then you can take the container outside and dump the contents in the dumpster, then wash and sterilize the container afterwards (unless it's really contaminated, then I'd just pitch the whole thing)......

. . .

debic — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 13:10:07 GMT

Bugs is one of the reasons why I started putting everything in jars and vacuuming them with my foodsaver. I probably have over a hundred half gallon jars. And quite a few other sizes. Any kind of seeds or grain can get buggy.