Meal Moth Control
This article will discuss meal moths in detail and then offer control methods which have been proven to eliminate infestations by breaking their cycle. Meal Moths include many species such as Indian Meal Moths, Tropical Ware House Moths, and Mediterranean Flour Moths, Angoumois Moths, Almond Moths and Tobacco Moth. In most cases, they were brought to your home with some type of stored food product. Examples would include flour, dog food, biscuits, pasta, cereal, dried beans, bread, spices, rice, granola, bran, cookies, and other standard pantry items. Another common household item which can lead to an infestation is bird seed. The packaging standard for bird seed is much less than human food and therefore will contain a greater amount of contaminants such as insect eggs. Many times these eggs will hatch after brought home. Developing larva will quickly find food in your home and before you know any are around, you have a pantry pest infestation. There are several other species finding their way into homes which are able to feed on spices, natural fiber such as cotton or linen and flower arrangements. Keep an open mind when dealing with such insects. Although most infestations originate in the kitchen or pantry, they may focus elsewhere in the home. Due to the wide range of pantry moths we now commonly find in any home, it is important to realize that populations can easily survive outside the pantry. Be sure to include all areas of the home when trying to identify the main nesting site.
If you are seeing small moths hovering around your pantry, dogfood area, pet food storage bin or birdseed bin you probably have one of these pests. They do not fly well and will like to land in the area. This video shows just how small they are compared to my finger.
They are easy to kill but you will notice they keep on emerging. However, they do create quite a mess when smashed and can be hard to clean off walls and ceilings. Use one of our HAND HELD ZAPPERS or BUG VACUUM/ZAPPER for quick and clean kills. It literally "zaps" them dead on contact and it's easy to use. For less of a mess, the is even better! Of course, killing the adults is fun, but it won't solve the problem. You will need to break their cycle which means getting all stages. Crawling stages do not fly, but can be seen on countertops and cabinet shelves. These creatures are small. In general, they are not much bigger than a grain of rice and are easily missed. Flying adult meal moths are easier to see and identify as a pest.
To stop the cycle of local meal moth infestation, you will need to do three steps. This first step is to try and identify the infested product which started the problem. Throw it or anything you suspect as being infested away. This video shows what the larva look like when seen in a bag of bird seed.
If you are unsure about an item, place it in a clear plastic bag where you will be able to inspect it every day or two to watch for any meal moths that might be hatching or trying to get out of the bag. If you find moth larva or adult moths accumulating in the bag within a month, you know the foodstuff is contaminated and needs to be discarded. To insure any item is pest free, store it in one these bags for at least a month. Some of these species take even longer to emerge, so don't be surprised if something is found to be infested as long as three months after you bring it home!
The second step must be done with either moth or crawling insect infestations. It involves the application of insecticide directed to all the tight spaces, seams and voids where larva hide. Crack and crevice is the name we use to refer to this type of pesticide application. It is when the chemical being applied is done so to specific cracks where the target pest is most likely to be nesting. This type of application should be done with a tube injector which will enable you to get the product where it needs to be. With pantry pests, the larva will feed for several days and then seek a place to spin their cocoon and pupate. Although this can happen where they are feeding, many times they will migrate to other areas. It is very common to find them in the cracks between shelves, molding and door frames. These areas need to be treated and since there could be so many locations where they're hiding, using a flushing agent type spray can really help. BAYGON AEROSOL is such a spray. First, it works as a flushing agent in that will drive out any pest nearby where it's been applied. This means you'll effect any nearby pests even if you miss entirely where they're hiding. The active is also a contact kill so as it's applied, hiding adults and larvae will die as soon as the spray touches them. This helps to break the cycle big time. And Baygon comes with a special injector tube that enables it to applied easily to key for easy application.
For homes or establishments that are large and using the aerosol can is both time consuming and costly, you will be better served using a concentrate like PERMETHRIN EC.and make your own spray. This odorless concentrate is mixed with water and applied to the areas where the meal moth adults and larvae are nesting as well as where they might end up going for egg laying. Be sure to add some GENTROL EC to the tank mix. Gentrol doesn't do anything to the adults but it will last much longer than the Permethrin and it acts as a growth prohibtor. Young larva which crawl over treated surfaced will come in contact with the Gentrol and not be able to grow normally. The end result is thwarted moth maggot which cannot fully develop to an egg laying adult. Apply both with one of our SPRAYERS. This method of application is far more effective and will prove to be easier for getting every area properly treated. This is especially true if you are treating a warehouse, stockroom or a house with large rooms.Using the Baygon for the cabinets and hard to treat areas and using the Permethrin/Gentrol mix for the big areas where you don't have any but want to make sure you don't get them is the best approach.
The third step will include the installation of some MEAL MOTH TRAPS. These small glue traps use the female moths sex pheromone which will attract any emerging males. These newly hatched males have one thing on their mind – the smell of local female moths wanting to mate – and this trap uses that very scent as lure. Male moths cannot resist this smell and will readily seek out and enter the trap. Once inside, they will get stuck on the glue and die. This video shows them being caught.
Since adult male moths have nothing on their mind except reproduction, these traps will prove to be quite effective. Expect to catch a lot of moths. A more decorative design of this trap is the MEAL MOTH GLASS TRAP. It uses the same pheromone but is designed to look good so that it can be placed out in the open, where it will be undetected and not draw attention. Yet it will prove to be quite effecitve and can be used over and over again. Instead of glue, the glass trap uses water to drown any moths that enter. Replace the pheromone every 45-50 days with some MEAL MOTH LURES and this trap will work for many years to come. If you want to capture both Male and Female moths, you will have to install the SUPPRESSING MEAL MOTH TRAPS. This latest design of meal moth trap uses both male and female pheromones. The trap itself is larger and designed with colorations that females find to be especially attractive. In badly infested structures, these traps will be needed if you wish to break the moth cycle once and for all and in a shorter time span. Where problems are more moderate to mild, the use of our standard Pantry Moth Traps should suffice. Regardless of the severity of the problem, the use of traps is very important when dealing with Meal Moths. Only by catching and killing adult moths can you be sure that you are actively stopping the act of reproduction which leads to re population.
Once the program of treating and setting out meal moth traps has been initiated, don't expect to get instant results. Since nothing can kill the pupal stage of this pest, it will take some time for the population to die out and run its natural course. A structure that has been properly treated with Baygon and/or Permethrin should stop the local meal moth larva from surviving. The Meal Moth Traps installed will intercept adults before they are able to mate and lay new eggs. Theoretically, this means the only part left of the population will be the pupae. And since these hard shelled cocoon's will not hatch and emerge till they are ready, it could take a few months before all are exposed and die off. During this time, don't be surprised if you see some flying around. This is normal and to be expected. If you treated right and keep an adequate amount of meal moth traps installed, these adults will have no place to go where they can "do their thing". Eventually the population will run out of pupa the meal moth infestation will be under control and successfully exterminated.