Meal Moth Traps – The Key Weakness of Pantry Moths
Whether you call them Indian meal moths, flour moths, pantry moths, or something else: you need to find an effective means of combating them or you’re going to have a full-scale war on your hands. I personally have fought this war against meal moths (my secret weapons were meal moth traps) and believe me, it sucks! There are many things that you need to start out doing in order to assure that you’re going to get rid of ALL of the moths.
First you need to get rid of ANY food that is near where they seem to have set up their nest. The ONLY exception to this is canned food. It is extremely hard for a moth to get into canned food. Everything else is fair game though, that includes boxed food and everything else. It sucks that you have to throw away tons of good food, but it’s going to suck more if you have thousands of moths flying around everywhere. Anything that hasn’t been infected needs to be put in the refrigerator, freezer, or trash can.
Next you need to get meal moth traps, if you don’t know a good place to get them, I recommend looking at the bottom of this article where I’ve linked to a great website for meal moth traps and reviews. If you live in an extremely small apartment you’ll need a minimum of four traps. If you live in a house, no matter how small, you’ll need close to 20. Anything bigger should be solved with a 24 pack (you’ll save money by just buying the 24 pack in the first place).
How to Get Rid of Moths
When moths invade your home, they are likely to be found in your kitchen or pantry as well as in closets or other places in which you store clothing. In fact, you can bring moths into your home from the grocery store without even knowing it. They can be found in boxes of food and even sealed plastic bags. Before they reach their full grown size, moths are so small that you might not even notice their presence before it is too late.
How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths
Moth caterpillars
The most common place to find moths is in your pantry. Look for webbing in corners and tiny holes in food containers. You will sometimes find that part of your food is stuck together with some sort of sticky material or you might notice an odd odor. These are all signs that you have moths in your pantry and in your food. You can also sometimes see the larvae themselves or see moths flying around your kitchen. Unfortunately, it can take six to eight weeks for these moths to complete their life cycle so getting rid of them can be an ongoing struggle. It is also frustrating to deal with because you have to limit the amount of pesticides you use in the kitchen; you can’t exactly spray pesticides into your box of Cheerios, right? So here’s how to do it:
Dealing With Moth Infestations
Moths are small, little, disgusting, and dangerous little critters. They have that scary look and everyone wants to avoid these pests. These creatures are dangerous to the health of a person especially when moths lay eggs on food and a person eats it. Having a moth infestation in your very home is not a good thing, obviously. Everyone wants to get rid of those infestations to keep their home and themselves safe and healthy.
To avoid moth infestation, it is essential that we learn about the different moths. Remember that knowing your enemy before you attack is always the great tactic. These are the clothes moths and pantry moths. Clothes moths are types of moths that tend to lay their disgusting eggs on any animal based fiber such as wool, felt, fur, or feathers. Wearing clothes with these could make you itchy and uncomfortable, not to mention that they could also damage your clothes. The pantry moths or sometimes called food moths lay their disgusting eggs close or onto the food source of their larva like flour, cereals, cornmeal as well as dry goods and many more. Your health may be at risk when these happen and sometimes, the newly born moths eat your stored food before you get a chance to eat them yourself.
Often, the best way to fight and stop or prevent a moth infestation is to locate the main source of the infested area. Scan and check every area of your house or your property and not just the clothes and food storage which they usually tend to hibernate. Check your kitchen and pay more attention to your stored dry goods and grains. If you have pets at home, check on their food. Clean your home. Infestation is caused by a dirty surrounding. If you want to fight them, utilize the use of moth bombs and control sprays to kill the adult moths. It is always recommended to use vacuum cleaner in cleaning infested area as you can get everything from eggs to adult moths. Regular cleaning and inspection of place are the best ways to avoid infestation.
