Filling your pantry is expensive and the last thing you want to do is replace every bag of flour and package of pasta because of an insect infestation. Pantry moths, or Indian Meal Moths, are a common type of pantry pest that can invade your home and lay eggs on your food. Identifying pantry moths and learning how to prevent them from getting in your home is the best way to protect your food and family.
Here is how to identify pantry moths and keep them from getting inside your home and cupboards.
Identifying Pantry Moths
From the eggs to the adults, you might find pantry moths lurking inside your home and pantry at every stage of their development. Here is how to identify each:
- Eggs. It can be difficult to spot a single pantry moth eggs because they are very small. Instead, look for groupings of eggs, which are gray or white in color.
- Larvae. The pantry moth larva looks like a small caterpillar and will be less than one-inch in length. It has several legs and can be white, pink, green, or brown in color.
- Pupa. Check inside food boxes, underneath the pantry shelves, in the corner near the pantry ceiling, or anywhere that is dark and quiet for a pupa. The cocoon will be small and look like spun webs.
The adult pantry moths are around one-half inch in length, winged, brownish in color and typically come out at night. Like other varieties of moths, pantry moths can be seen swarming around sources of light.
Keeping Pantry Months Out of Your Home
Once pantry moths inside your home, it can be difficult to complete get rid of them. Prevention is the best method to keep your food from being infested. Pantry moths prefer grains, flour, and other dry food stuffs. Check the packages before you enter your home and look for the pantry moths in all their stages of development.
Avoid purchasing grain, sugar, flour or anything that doesn't come in a sealed container in smaller amounts. This will ensure that any food you bring inside your home isn't sitting in your pantry too long, which could attract pantry moths. Pantry moths also hide out in pet food and bird seed. Store these items in a separate area, such as your garage or a closet that is far from your pantry and cupboards.
Pantry moths are a nuisance insect that are difficult to eliminate. If you find pantry moths inside your home, contact an insect control service to eliminate your infestation.
After struggling for quite some time with pests inside of our home, I knew it had to stop. I was tired of going to bed everyday without knowing if the issue would be getting resolved, so I started investigating the matter. I realized that we had ants and spiders, so I spoked with a pest control professional about helping out. They were absolutely incredible to work with, and within a few weeks, the mess was sorted out. On this website, I began focusing on how to make things right, since you really never know which kinds of pests will impact your home.