Pests in the Pantry
Eliminating pantry moths safely and effectively - by Fawn Pattison

The Indianmeal Moth is a common pest in North Carolina cupboards. Follow these steps to rid your pantry of these critters, and prevent them from coming back.

Identify the problem. Doubtless nearly everyone has seen a pantry moth. These moths are a perpetual problem in food storage, and unfortunately they will find a way home with you from the grocery store every now and again, so knowing what they look like and how to stop them is useful for everyone. Several species invade food storage, including the almond moth, indianmeal moth, angoumois grain moth, and raisin moth, all of which can be controlled with the methods described below. All are small – with wingspans of less than one inch – and light tan, grey, brown or mottled in color. Look for the silky white webbing with tiny black eggs, or small silky egg cases on the outside of packages before you bring them home from the store. Of course, once you open the box, the larvae are a dead giveaway. All stages of the moth can be killed by freezing for four days at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Start with prevention. If you have seen only one or two little moths around, now is a great time to swing into action to prevent a real problem. A pantry that is vulnerable to moths is probably also attractive to ants and mice, so moth-proofing your food storage is a great way to kill several birds (or bugs?) with one stone. Begin with a good spring cleaning: are there small spills of flour or grains on containers or in the cabinet, or old packages of food that can be thrown out? Pull everything out of your cabinets and wipe down the insides with soapy water to remove crumbs (and moth eggs). Don’t forget the places where you keep pet food, bird seed and camping supplies – not all the food in your house may be stored in your kitchen.

Next, revamp your storage options. Glass jars with tight-fitting lids and heavy-weight Tupperware containers are excellent storage and cost little, if anything. Plastic bags – even heavy freezer bags – break down quickly and are easy for moths and other pests to defeat. Tins may work, but their lids often don’t fit tightly enough to exclude pests, especially if they are dented or bent – it is amazing how little space a moth needs to get into a container and begin laying eggs. If you have an existing pest problem, it is wise to transfer all boxed foods such as cereal and crackers into pest-proof containers as well.

Trap the bugs! So you’ve cleaned out everything and thrown away any foods where you found moths, eggs or larvae, but your cat is still having a ball chasing them around the kitchen. What can you do now? It’s time to trap them.

Several companies make inexpensive, pheremone-baited sticky traps designed just for pantry moths. They can be found in the pest control section of many hardware or garden stores. The trap is usually an unobtrusive cardboard triangle, coated on the inside with glue, and containing a small bait that releases irresistible moth pheremones into the air. Make sure to place the trap in the area where the moths are a problem, with plenty of air circulation all around. You want to ensure both that the moths have access to the trap, and that the pheremone attractant is circulating well. A moth flies in looking for a good time, and never makes it out again.

Throw away the trap when the inside gets full of unfortunate moths, and replace it with a new one as long as you still see moths flitting around. This is a very effective tool, so if you continue to see moths more than a week or two after putting out traps, you need to look again for food sources they have found that you haven’t. Someone in your house may have a secret snack stash with a moth nursery inside.

A solid combination of cleaning, pest-proofed storage, and sticky traps should do the trick. But since you’ve just eliminated a major source of entertainment for your house pets, don’t forget to get them a new chase toy when the moths disappear.

Toxic Free News is a publication of
Toxic Free North Carolina
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Mission: Toxic Free NC advocates for alternatives to toxic pesticides in North Carolina by empowering people to make sound decisions about their health and environment.

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