I was very impressed with your article on meal moths. It seems to describe the problem very well. We have three very young children and I am very concerned about putting down any chemicals to treat our persistent meal moth problem. I am using the male traps and catching a lot. We also identified the infected food and threw it out about two weeks ago. But, it seems that there is more infected food coming from the stores than I anticipated. We are watching the food we buy. Without using chemicals, can I hope to be rid of the moths?
As explained in our MOTH CONTROL article, there are just too many ways pantry moths can survive if you don't treat the surrounding area where the food is stored. Yes it's true there are is a chance you are bringing some of these pests home in the food you buy but it's more likely these moths and their young are nesting and thriving in you home. Untreated cupboards, pantry storage spaces and maybe even other living areas around the home can all provide ample locations for safe harborage of young meal moths. These local populations will thrive indefinitely until you interrupt the cycle which is apparently well established based on the ongoing problem.
As for your concern regarding any treatments in the home; I suspect they are most likely unfounded and based on mis information. In other words, the products we're recommending pose no hazard to people or pets when used properly so they can be safely applied as described in our safety video's in and around the home. Unless you have some information to the contrary, the products we're recommending along with the methods and procedures on how to use them present no risk or danger when used in accordance to their labels. In case you missed our video clips, they are quite informative and should better prepare you for using our products for the task at hand.
As you'll see in the video, we always recommend children and pets should be away from the area when the treatment is being done. But you'll also learn that soon afterward they can safely return without concern once the treated areas have been able to settle and dry. Remember, you should be applying small amounts of product in very tiny areas and these doses when applied properly are just barely able to control the target insect let alone affect large, more complex mammals like people or pets. More information on this can be seen in our videos here:
http://www.bugspray.net/video/product-safety-first
jonathan
Filed under safety concerns by 
I have a problem with indian meal moths. I contacted a local pest control company and was told to freeze all my dry foodstuffs, flour, seeds, crackers, cake mixes etc. which I did. For 10 days. I have returned all of my dried goods into cupboard and pantry. I also purchase the pheremone traps and have approximately 10 moths in each trap. I have also noticed a few of the worms crawling on my ceiling maybe 2-3 over the span of one week. Do you think I still have an active infestation or is this just the residual of the life cycle of this situation and will it take a few weeks etc to stop seeing moths flying around. I notice about 2-3 each night. Your earliest response would be appreciated as this is driving me crazy.
If you read through our MOTH CONTROL article, you'll learn the larvae don't travel much until they've fed well. Seeing some crawling around on your ceiling leads me to believe they are hatching from eggs not on the food your froze. In other words, I'm pretty sure there is another population of them living somewhere in the home. You see, even though they could survive the freezing temps, chances are you would have seen something when handling any of these "frozen" items in the days since they've been out in the open. Since this hasn't happened, I suspect there is another food source still not identifed.
Additionally, the pupae stage is most definitely still around in the home, away from the food and the "likely" locations. As our article explains, this stage is strong and typically in locations away from food and where the larvae molts into the adult moth.
Now if you're seeing larvae crawling then the only way to know for sure they'll die would be if where you're seeing them where it has been treated. If this part of the ceiling has with sprayed with something like the BAYGON or PT PHANTOM AEROSOL, these larvae will die for sure and not be able to morph into adults. But if your service company didn't treat these areas, chances are increased for the problem to persist.
Lastly, we always recommend throwing away all the food which is suspect of harboring any activity. Think about it: even if the larvae did all die, are you comfortable feeding dead insects to your family? Probably not. Throwing away the contaminated food is almost always the best way to proceed in this process of elimination. Next, treating the vacated cupboards the way our article details is required along with the surrounding rooms to make sure any migrating larvae can't establish themselves. If you haven't had this type of complete treatment done I'm sure the problem will persist indefintely. And yes, the traps do help cut down on the males flying around but remember, it only takes one of them to impregnate a female so relying on the traps alone won't solve the problem.
If you'd like to see any of the products mentioned above, just click on them where they appear in the post or follow these direct links:
http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control
http://www.bugspray.com/item/invader_hpx.html
http://www.bugspray.com/item/phantom_aerosol.html
And if you have further questions, give us a call on our toll free 1-800-877-7290 line.
jonathan www.bugspray.comFiled under pantry moths by
My bird seed has a bad moth problem. I don't know how they got in there but I've got over 10 lbs of seed with little worms and saw dust and it's just a mess. Moths are flying around it and I'm thinking I should throw it all away but maybe not. This seed is for my bird feeder and I know those birds like to eat insects too so I'm thinking on using it all. But I'm afraid my garage will get infested from all the moths flying around. What can I do?
I would keep the seed since you don't plan on using it inside the home. But I recommend doing a few things so the garage and house doesn't get infested. First, be sure to keep the seed in some kind of container you can seal air tight. This way nothing can escape. One option is to place it in a storage bin any home center sells; another would be to transfer it all to a heavy duty plastic bag.
Next, I'd freeze the seed. Store it overnight in a deep freeze which will kill most of the activity. Do this as needed. It could be there are so many eggs and pupa in the seed that you'll have to do this weekly to keep the seed from getting consumed but if you want to keep it for the birds, no sense in letting the bugs eat it. Freezing it once a week will help minimize the loss.
Lastly, I'd set some MOTH PHEROMONE TRAPS up in the garage to monitor just how many are out and about. My guess is you could already have a good population moving around out there you don't know about and the traps will help monitor this activity. Be sure to do a thorough treatment with the PERMETHRIN and GENTROL too. This way any that do migrate away or try to lay eggs around where you have kept the seed will have problems establishing themselves.
Filed under seed by
We have been fighting Meal Moths for some time now. We are moving and have loaded all our food storage in a sealed trailer. While I was loading the food, I spotted 2 meal moths flying. Is there any thing I can fumigate the trailer with to kill all these guys? If I need 2 or more treatments, how many weeks do I need to wait before treating again?
If you review the online article we have detailing MEAL MOTH CONTROL, you'll learn that the adult stage is typically the ones people find moving around their home. Though killing this stage will greatly diminish the ones you're seeing, it won't solve the problem. As our article explains, there must be a source of food from which the adults are emerging. And if you wish to get rid of the adults, you'll need to get rid of their "source" food to effectively break the cycle.
There are many things on which they might be breeding. Most are listed in our article but the more common food stuff include cereal, pet food, pasta, flour, cake mix and other pantry stored ingredients. For the average homeowner, the guidelines we have listed in our article will help get their problem under control. For your situation, the resolution will be a bit different.
One important point to consider: If the stored items in your trailer will be there for several weeks, the risk of "cross contamination" is high. Adults have one thing in mind; find a mate and reproduce. If they are not able to find a suitable food supply on which to lay their eggs, they'll undoubtedly do so on where ever they land. These "other" items may or may not be able to feed and sustain the hatching young. Since this pest is adaptable, the larvae could full well find something not commonly thought of as food on which to thrive. Other "sources" of nutrients that can work include cardboard boxes, clothing or some other fabric. My point is the longer everything stays inside the trailer, the higher the risk of this cross contamination. This could – and I have seen it happen – lead to a big mess and even damage if left untreated and ignored.
The best approach at this point would be to remove everything in the trailer, find the contaminated food stuff and discard it all. The trailer should then be treated with either the Baygon Aerosol or the Permethrin and then everything can be returned (less the bad items which were found) safely and with little risk of getting infested. In theory this should solve the problem.
If you are not able to handle the problem this way, the next best thing could be to set off some Total Release Aerosols. These would kill off the adults but as our article explains, it would only take a day or two for more to appear. A better option would be to set out some Meal Moth Traps. These would in turn collect the foraging adults which would stop them from reproducing. With any luck you'll be able to keep them from populating long enough so that when you are finally able to remove the contents of the trailer, the source can be found and then discarded.
One other option worth mentioning is to get an Aerosol Machine and set it out with some Konk Insect Killer. This setup would enable you to get a regular amount of product to be applied on a regular basis so any hatching adults would die off before they could populate. Configure the machine to release a blast of product every hour and I'm sure it would handle the job.
If you have further questions, please give us a call at 1.800.877.7290. Your situation is a bit unusual but it still can be managed with the right products and approach.
Filed under treatment by
I'm seeing tiny little meal moths flying around my pantry and I want them gone! Do I have to remove all the stuf in there before I spray or can I apply the Baygon by just moving the boxes and dishes to the side?
Any time you treat a cabinet, especially in a kitchen or bathroom, it's imperative that everything is first removed prior to spraying. This insures you get proper coverage and that you don't contaiminate anything with the Baygon. After giving the cabinet space a good spraying, be sure to set out some of the Moth Traps to help catch any adults that will be emerging in the weeks after you spray. And of course, get rid of the infested food item as our meal moth control article explains.
Filed under baygon, meal moths by
