So, you’ve finally bug proofed your house. Every little crack and nook is filled up, so they can’t get into your home. No leaky pipes for roaches to sip on are around anymore. Your cleanliness is at an all-time high. But, wait! There are beetles in the house? Maybe even moths? Well, there’s more than one way for an infestation to occur. That’s why today we’ll be talking about the hitchhiking stored product pests.
Stored Product Pests: Overview
Almost every home will find stored product pests at one point or another. But few of us actually recognize why they occur, or how to differentiate between them and regular pests. Usually, they’ll find their way inside from something you’ve bought at a store that you store away for a long time. If you get rid of a bug and see a few more of the same species crop up here and there, it’s a pretty good sign that you’ve got a source off these pests in your home somewhere. A good majority of the beetles you can bring in on accident are pantry pests, which came in some of the food or storage materials you bought at the store.
Learning to recognize what kind of pests may have snuck into your home is the best way to narrow down the sources of infestation. So let’s go over a few of the stored product pests you may find around the house.
Meal Moths
Moths can be either pantry or fabric pests. However color patterns, size, and behavior can generally help determine the food preference of the moth problem. Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, is one of the most common indoor pests submitted to county Extension offices. This insect is readily identified by its two-toned (tan and copper colored) wing pattern. This insect feeds on dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, powdered milk, birdseed, dog food, and a variety of grain products. Full-grown larvae are pale and cream-colored and are usually about 13 mm long (range 9-19 mm). When fully developed, Indian meal moth larvae frequently wander in search of a place to pupate and may be found on ceilings, walls and counter tops. Although adult Indian meal moths are primarily nocturnal, they are occasionally seen flying about during the day.
must be controlled by first locating and eliminating infested food products. Insecticide sprays are not always needed. Often removing an old infested bag of flour is all that is needed. For heavier infestations, pesticides can be applied to corners and cracks around food storage areas. Pyrethrin-based foggers can provide temporary suppression of adult moths; but aerosols alone will not provide control until all infested foods are discarded. Pyrethrin, resmethrin, allethrin, and tetramethrin are common pesticides found in sprays designed for cockroach control. They are relatively safe to use in the kitchen and can be used to treat cracks and crevices in food storage closets. If you have a pest control company that regularly services your home, ask about pheromone traps that are designed to monitor and help reduce pantry moth pests.
Clothes Moths
Clothes moths, Tinea and Tineola species, can be distinguished from Indian meal moths and other food-infesting moths by their small size, wing shape, and secretive nature. Adult clothes moths have a wingspan of about 1/2-inch and a body covered with shiny golden scales. Under a hand lens, the head can be seen covered with a fluffy pompadour of reddish-golden hairs. Adult clothes moths are not commonly seen because they tend to avoid light and are active primarily at night. Clothes moth larvae feed primarily on protein-based fibers such as woolen cloths and carpets, furs, pet hair, piano felts and natural hair brushes.
Killing Clothes Moths
Dry cleaning kills all stages of clothes moths, but will not prevent reinfestation. For this reason, recently dry-cleaned items should be placed in cold-storage (furs), or sealed in air-tight containers protected with fresh cedar chips or other fumigants. In general, cedar wood does not provide effective protection from clothes moths unless the wood is freshly cut or chipped and the container well-sealed. Aromatic oils found in cedar heartwood do kill clothes moth larvae if present in sufficient concentration; however few cedar chests more than two or three years old produce sufficient vapors to kill pests.
Naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene (PBD) products are more effective but must be sealed tightly with the clothes. Use 1-2 pounds of repellent per 100 cubic feet of air to kill moth larvae. Care must be taken with PDB crystals around certain plastic products. Many types of plastics will soften or melt in the presence of PDB fumes.
You can also freeze your clothes to kill these pests. Place infested articles in polyethylene bags prior to freezing to reduce the damage due to rapid changes in moisture content. Heat can be used to kill off an infestation. Chuck some of the clothes in the dryer and that’ll do the trick. Beware of possible heat damage to some woolen articles at these temperatures. Regular (once or twice a month) airing and beating of woolen rugs and clothing also is a very effective method of control. Beating and brushing crushes eggs and larvae of clothes moths, and exposure to the hot sun causes larvae to become irritated and drop from the fabric.
Beetles
Some very small scavenger beetles, known as minute fungus beetles and foreign grain beetles, are periodically found in large numbers. This occurs most often in new homes, where they appear to feed on fungi and mildew growing on wood and plaster drywall.
Numerous kinds of beetles can be found feeding on stored food and pantry items. They include weevils, cigarette and drugstore beetles, saw-toothed grain beetles, larder beetles, mealworms, and various flour beetles. These beetles feed on a wide variety of stored grains, fruits, spices, powdered milk, dried meats, or dead insects, birds, or mammals.
Stored Product Pests: What To Do?
At the end of the day, this is far from the worst infestation you can have in your home. But if push comes to shove and they’re allowed to properly infest, make sure to call a natural pest control specialist to deal with them before it gets worse.