11/21/17

Avoiding Pantry Pests This Thanksgiving

Avoiding Pantry Pests This Thanksgiving

11/21/2017

It’s stressful preparing to have family over to your house for Thanksgiving. You spend so much time wanting to make sure everything is perfect. You clean and organize and prepare a beautiful table, complete with a cornucopia centerpiece and your best china. Don’t let one overlooked detail be the demise of your picture-perfect Thanksgiving feast. As you may be pulling out your flour for the first time in a while to thicken your gravy, or grabbing that rarely-used Bisquick to whip up a batch of biscuits, don’t be foiled by the oh-so-subtle pantry pests, most commonly in the form of Indian meal moths.

What Are Indian Meal Moths And Why Are They In Your Pantry?

This invasive pantry pest, the Indian meal moth (sometimes referred to simply as pantry moths), love to eat your dry goods. While they are harmless to you and your house, it is not a great feeling to have them hanging out in your cereal, flour, nuts – an event that will surely render said food unappetizing, and cost you money in the form of wasted food. The adult moths are fairly typical in appearance as moths go, reaching about a 1/2 inch long with wings showing various shades of golds and browns. Pantry moths lay their eggs in the above-mentioned dry goods, as well as granola, dried fruits, graham crackers, and even pet food and birdseed. The larvae look like small worms and feast on the food in your pantry. Sometimes before you even notice the larvae or the moths themselves, you will see stringy silk-like webbing inside your boxes and bags of dried goods.

How Do You Get Rid Of Indian Meal Moths?

Once you have an infestation of Indian meal moths they are hard to get rid of without some drastic measures. You must be sure to not only to rid your home of the live adult moths but also all the eggs and larvae. The best way to do this is to throw out all infested products as well as anything in your pantry that is open, as the eggs are extremely small and quite nearly impossible to see. Unfortunately, these pantry pests can get inside your unopened products as well, depending on the packaging, so it’s best to double check for any signs of infestation in newly purchased pantry items as well.

In the future, store all pantry items in glass or plastic containers and be sure to seal all cracks in windows and doors as the moths can get in your home that way. Much more commonly you will encounter pantry pests such as the Indian meal moth already infesting food you are looking to bring home from the store, so inspect your purchases for any sign that might cause you to worry about the integrity of the packaging. If you find you just can’t get rid of or stop the Indian meal moths from invading your pantry, you will need to call in the professionals. Schendel Pest Services can protect your home from a variety of nuisance pests including dreaded pantry moths. We know how to use low impact methods in dealing with pantry pests, and can address your situation quickly. Give us a call so we can check your pantry and rid you of unwanted Indian meal moths so that you can have the perfect Thanksgiving that you’ve been dreaming of and preparing for.