How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths and Everything Else You Need to Know

Pantry moths have two goals in life – to eat and to make more pantry moths. If your kitchen cupboard is overflowing with delicious, poorly sealed foods, including flours, cereals and bags of chips, then you’ve issued an open invitation to these prolific winged insects to make a home and raise a family of hundreds. Once established, they’ll cling to shelves, the roof and find their way into cannisters, containers boxes and packets.

What is a Pantry Moth?

Also known as the Indian Meal Moth, the pantry moth is an adaptable insect with a super strong bite – a pantry moth larvae can chomp through plastic and cardboard without much trouble, potentially endangering every morsel of food. Although their name suggests they’re native to India, the moniker is derived from the 1800s name for cornmeal.

Pantry Moth 101: Pantry moths don’t limit their breeding habits to your pantry, they also share territory with clothes months, leaving their little eggs on your favourite shirts, pants and dresses.

How to Prevent Pantry Moths?

Unfortunately, prevention isn’t an easy thing when it comes to guarding your home against pantry moths. Larvae often go under the radar, entering the home with a load of groceries and feeding themselves up until they reach adulthood. Because they commonly hitch a ride in flour, breadcrumbs or grains that aren’t used in everyday cooking, you won’t know about your new infestation until the next generation is well on its way. Pantry moths can also spread from house to house without using food, entering through doors, windows, vent and plumbing lines!

Pest Control for Pantry Moths – What Should You Do?

It may feel like you’re dealing with endless army of invading pantry moths – you’ve killed ten and ten more pop up days later… what can you do? Although adult pantry moths live somewhere between 1 to 2 weeks, they can lay up to 400 eggs during this time, effectively ensuring they’ll be replaced and then some. Some pantry moth traps do work in exterminating a few, but nothing eradicates these flying food thieves faster than a professional treatment. The best way to deal with a pantry moth infestation is to call in pantry moth experts, handing the reins over to a team that sees them everyday in homes and businesses across Canberra.

Are Pantry Moths Harmful to Your Health?

You’ve found a pantry moth or larvae in your kitchen pantry and now you’re worried. What if you’ve ingested a serve of insect eggs along with your Sunday cheese and crackers? Not to worry. According to the experts, ingesting pantry moth eggs and larvae won’t do any damage – the cheese is more likely to make you sick. Remember, any adult pantry moths you see have probably been hanging around for a while in their smaller stages – most of us eat their young without realizing it.

Pantry moths won’t kill you, but they can be an expensive pest to host. Save your food and your sanity by contacting Canberra Pest Control today. We have the experience and tools you need to make sure they’re gone for good this time.