Community Chat

[Kalli]

Not pantry moths.

Last spring I started having moths, mostly in my hallway. I thought it was associated with my very tall umbrella? plant. Put it outside over summer and moth situation seemed to go away. Plant didn’t like being outside as judging by its appearance by the end of the summer but I left it out until close to first frost.

Brought it in Nov until now. Plant looks much better.  No moths all winter, until a few weeks ago. Now I’m killing several each night. The invasion is back!

Any help will be appreciated. I know this plant doesn’t like being outside and it’s still too cold at night to put it out but I’m getting desperate! 

I did buy the moth sticky traps for pantry moths but that was a few weeks ago and only caught one which I think just by luck, not because it was drawn to the trap.

[ECBG]

Did you look at the underside of the leaves?  I had a peace lily get white dots once and I cleaned them off with alcohol cotton balls.

[Kachina624]

I've been having an invasion of tiny moths off and on since last summer.  Recently they've gotten worse.  They also are not pantry moths.  They seem to spend the days in folds of fabric and towels, coming out at night.

I ordered one of the Q's Dynatrap 1/2 acre bug zappers.  You ought to see the moths it has collected....several hundred of them.  I don't know how you totally eliminate them though since they hide out all day.  I though of those aerosol bombs but if they're deep in fabric, doubt that would work.  Any ideas?

[ECBG]

@Kachina624 So sorry to hear anyone is having this problem.  You might want to get a professional to come in and clean the carpets as well.  They could get into your vents and air ducts and set up.

[homedecor1]

My friend was also having moth invasion in her laundry room closet & guest room.

She had a open bag of cat dry food and potting soil they were in there!  and in her linen closets😮.   She had exterminator there serveral times and they just keep coming.  Finally she was told to remove all plants as they had larve in the leaves & soil😳.

They also set traps all over like stickypaper boxes. they're finally gone as of last week🤞🏻

[x Hedge]

In April 2013 I spotted tiny moths, only a quarter inch long, fluttering on one side of the basement.

Normally I put the snow shovels in the garage in spring, but I'd taken them down to the basement that year. I'm convinced the tiny eggs were somewhere on those shovels.

I saw them for three, maybe four months. Then no more. Since I'd committed about an hour each day to hunting them down I thought I'd wiped them out.

Surprize! Next year they were back, and spreading to the other side of the basement.

Among the summer toys at Dollar Tree I found "butterfly nets" with a nice long bamboo handle.

I bought a few. I have become proficient at swiping those little moths out of the air, mid flight.

I've also come to recognize them in their other life stages, since they only fly to find mates during a few months.

Yes, they like to hide in fabric and eat fibers. Have caught several on the surface of carpet in basement. 

[sensibleshoppingsoothes]

the Safer brand moth traps eliminated my huge moth problem.  If they don't work, I would advise bringing in a professional.  Moths are stubborn!

[KingstonsMom]

If they're small solid white 'moths', kinda triangle shaped, they're likely sod whiteflies.

You can google for a photo. They actually live in sod/grass and sneak into the house through any nook or cranny or when we come in or out of our doors.

I'm having a problem with them too right now.

[conlt]

Well if you bought the moth sticky traps for pantry moths, and they did not work then your moths are probably not the pantry moths. I bought some bird seed for the outdoors, closed the bag and had it in the house and all of a sudden I had a moth problem. It was awful. The moth sticky traps worked for me but I had to dig around in everything in my kitchen to get rid of them. They got into a sealed container of breadcrumbs. It had a plastic lid but had a little indentation in the container and they got in. Look for the infestation in your kitchen, if it is not there, it is somewhere else, the garage maybe. Good luck a moth problem is terrible. 

[SilleeMee]

We get moth invasions on occasion. When they (Miller moths) migrate here they come in huge numbers. What I do at night is keep all of my outdoor lights on so that the moths won't be attracted to the lights inside my house and that what they stay outside mostly. A few always seem to come inside, however, no matter what I do. I end up chasing them around the house until I get them.