I have moths breeding in my pantry....?

Question

They seem attracted to cereals, grains, and starches and lay cacoons in my food, hatch, and fly around all over my apartment. I thought I got rid of them a month ago when i threw almost everything away in my pantry, but they just seem to keep coming back anyway.. I have had to throw away so much food because I am afraid I'll eat their larva.. Anyone experienced this before? They are small in appearance, and have been around in both winter and summer. How do I get rid of them?

Answer 1

We have been having problems with them also.
Found them in a bag of unopened brown rice, too.

Best thing to do is get a bunch of ziploc bags and put everything that is in open packages into the ziploc bags.
Toss out anything that has the small larvae worms or cacoon webs in it.

Foods of questionable infestations or even lightly infested can be supercooled or superheated. Place exposed or suspect foods in a freezer at 0°F. for four to seven days or in a microwave oven for five minutes or in a shallow pan or tray in the oven at 140°F for one hour or 120°F for two hours. Spread the material thinly to permit effective cold or heat penetration to kill all life stages of the pest. If in the oven, stir food periodically to prevent possible scorching. Dried fruits can be placed in cheese cloth bags and dipped into boiling water for six to ten seconds to kill external pests. However, seeds saved for planting may have the germination reduced after superheating or cooling. Sifting the food material will remove possible insect fragments and any remaining will not cause harm if consumed. After insects are killed, contaminated food might be used outdoors during winter months for bird feed.

See: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2089.html

Answer 2

Put everything in plastic storage containers that you know is ok to eat. Do you have any kind of animal? Toss out their food and put it in a plastic storage bin too. Empty out the cabinet where you store your food. Spray an insect/moth killing spray in the cabinet. Them close/seal it for the next 2-3 days. DO NOT open it during that time for any reason!! After the few days are up, clean the cabinet from top to bottom. If possible, do the same for where you keep your pets food. You might want to spray the surrounding area to be on the safe side. My grandmother had the same problem. This is what I did to get rid of the except for the pet food. She has them again and will keep on having them until she gets rid of my cousin's birds. But what I did killed off most of them. Only a small percentage of those d@mn things came back and its been months to a year since I cleaned her cabinets and stuff. Good luck!!

Answer 3

Sounds like you have Indian Meal moths. I had a bout of these which came into the house via some bird seed. They are difficult to exterminate with poisons.

I had good results with Pheromone Traps and breaking their reproductive cycles. You will have to keep at them as they will find food sources throughout your house not just flour and grains.

TIP:
You can keep some dry goods products like flour etc in the freezer. THis will prevent infestation of these products and deep freezing will kill them.

Answer 4

Clean out and throw out any food packages etc that are open and not sealed... check boxes bugs can get in there too sometimes EVEN when they are sealed. After that you might try fogging the parnty or using some type of insect killer.Be careful tho cause you keep youir food in there... Good luck....

Answer 5

Exterminator.

Answer 6

I had a problem like that , Found they were coming from the dogs food.

Answer 7

yummy.can i come over for dinner?