4 gross facts about meal moths: You don’t want these in your food
You’ve seen a few moths flying around the kitchen. No big deal. Just catch them, kill them and all is good, right?
Wrong! Those moths are likely Indian meal moths. They quickly can ruin all the flour, dried fruit, crackers, cocoa, cereal, nuts, granola and other dry goods in your cupboards or pantry.
The experts at Pest HQ, Ontario’s leading source for do-it-yourself pest control, explain why you don’t want meal moths near your food or in it:
1. Wormy wigglers – It’s not the adult moths that make food inedible. It’s the tiny, wiggling white caterpillars with brown heads that hatch from their eggs. They make food inedible and are super gross.
Does your cornmeal, powdered milk or other dry items appear to be moving? Look closely and you’ll probably see moth larvae wiggling about.
2. Revolting webbing – You open a box of cereal to find webs stretching across the surface. Ugh. As soon as moth larvae hatch, they begin spinning silk threads in infested food.
After about two weeks, they crawl up from the depths of dry goods to the surface. They might travel up the interior walls of the container or to the underside of the package’s lid. There they spin silken cocoons to start the pupae phase of their life cycle. It takes about 30 days for adult moths to emerge from the cocoons.
You also might find webbing in package seams, cracks and crevices, folded napkins, and other protected sites in your pantry or cupboard.
3. Larvae poop – The wormy caterpillars in your grains, seeds or flour are busy feasting. And if they’re eating, they’re pooping. So, in addition to having worms in your dry goods, you’ve got larvae poop, called frass, as well. If you see sawdust-like droppings in your cocoa, candies or even unexplained grainy bits on your pantry shelves, you’ve got hungry moth caterpillars pillaging your food items.
4. Eggs everywhere - A female Indian meal moth can lay up to 200 eggs in or near a food source in just one week. The destructive larvae that hatch can chew through thin plastic wrap, plastic storage bags and paper packaging… and go right into your food. In a short amount of time, the pests can infest all the dry goods stored in your kitchen.
How did you get this problem? You likely brought home an item from the store that was infested with meal moth eggs. The eggs are so small they’re nearly invisible to the human eye.
But sometimes wildlife is the source of the problem. Pest HQ experts learned of a home with a big meal moth infestation. Turns out a chipmunk had stored a large cache of acorns in a wall void. The acorns, a type of seed, were infested with moth eggs. The eggs hatched and the adult moths found their way indoors.
How to get rid of pantry moths
Thankfully, it’s possible to get rid of Indian meal moths using do-it-yourself (DIY) methods, say Pest HQ experts. They gave 5 steps to effectively control these pests:
1. Make a proper identification. Before doing any DIY pest control, it is essential to know the exact insect you’re dealing with. Some insects look alike, but different strategies and products are used to get rid of them.
Here’s how to identify Indian meal moths: They have a wingspan of about 5/8 inches (16 mm) and about half of its wings are copper to bronze in colour.
2. Inspect and discard suspect food items. Open up packaging and look for tell-tale signs of caterpillars, webbing and frass. Also inspect bird seed and dry pet food. Discard infested items and the dry goods stored near infested items. Use this as an opportunity to throw out old and expired food items. This step helps to eliminate moth larvae.
3. Disinfect. Thoroughly clean and disinfect all surfaces within cupboards, storage closets and pantries, including walls, shelving tops and bottoms, ceiling and floors. This will help kill any existing eggs and pupae.
4. Store dry goods properly. Store the remaining (and future) food items in glass and plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. This will prevent larvae from penetrating packaging. Don’t forget proper storage for bird seed and pet food.
5. Install pheromone traps to kill adult moths. These traps prevent adult moths from breeding and laying more eggs, breaking the cycle of infestation. They capture any moths that emerge from cocoons that you missed during disinfection.
Pest HQ recommends using Terro Panty Moth Traps or Catchmaster Pantry Pest Moth Glue Traps. The easy to use, non-toxic traps use chemical lures to attract the moths, which get stuck to an adhesive surface and die of dehydration. Check traps weekly and replace when they are full or dirty.
Light traps also may help eliminate adult Indian meal moths.
Be prepared to eliminate meal moths
When you see signs of Indian meal moth activity, be prepared to act. Order pheromone moth traps, light traps and other pantry moth control products online from Pest HQ. Items ship fast or can be picked up at our headquarters: 7 Meridian Rd, Etobicoke, Ontario, Monday – Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.
Want to know more about protecting your home from pantry moths and other pests? Our experts are here to help. Contact Pest HQ.
