Pantry Beetle Larvae living in pasta, cereal, etc.....?

Question

How can i get rid of those darn pantry beetle larvae that seem to appear in pasta boxes and cereal?? They are always appearing and we've cleaned our cabinet like 80000 times!!!

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/pantry.html
You can find a picture there ^ just look for the pantry beetle larvae

Answer 1

they actually hatch out IN the food--the eggs are IN the flour, pasta, cereal---what I do is keep my flour in a ziploc freezer bag IN the fridge---ditto with the cereal/pasta--if the food is cold, the eggs wont hatch.

And, my momma says "get some bay leafs and put them on your shelves".

Answer 2

I do not know why this works but I first read about this trick 20 years ago in some "happy homemaker" kind of magazine: Bay Leaves. Tuck 4 or 5 whole dry large bay leaves (aka laurel, like what you would use in stews etc) into each container that contains any kind of grain: flour, oats, corn meal, cereal, etc. I put mine point-down into the flour or whatever with just the stems sticking out from the top, so I can pull them out before measuring what I need, then tuck the bayleaves back into the remaining flour before closing the lid.

Change out the bayleaves every couple of months or so. They will not affect the flavour of anything.

I have been using this trick for 20 years and haven't seen a pantry beetle larva (or beetle) since then.

Answer 3

4

Answer 4

Pantry Beetle

Answer 5

As someone already mentioned, sometimes the eggs are already in foods you buy, i.e. flour. It's a good idea to put flour in a freezer for a day or two to kill off the eggs before you hatch. Virtually all flour has these so don't be too grossed out about it. Eating bugs is worse than eggs ;-)

This is good prevention technique.

As far as the existing problem, I'd throw out ALL opened food and clean out the cabinets with bleach and water including any containers you have in there. Good luck!

Answer 6

Buy some tupperware & put all cereals and pasta inside them.
Guarenteed, beetles can-not get into tupperware !

Answer 7

Hardware store sells moth traps for these pests. They have pheromones to attract and sticky surface which captures the moths. You have to replace them every few months.

The larvae are sometimes present in the food when you buy it-- even expensive products. We store all dry food products in huge mason jars and sometimes the moths emerge inside the jars and die. I spoon out the top and discard.

Answer 8

When you restock, get a large supply of Gallon sized Zip lock bags or bread Bags and slip the box or bag inside them. By sealing up the food which draws them, you can cut down on them as well as cut down on the food which is wasted.

Answer 9

Get rid of all boxed and bagged food in there is all I know. If it set a long time, that's when you get them.

Answer 10

i do no