Indian meal moths

Last month I found an Indian meal moth in my kitchen.  So what, you say? This insect is probably the most common pantry pest that I get calls on.  And it's in my kitchen.  Which meant I had a task in front of me that I wasn't looking forward to.

Indian meal moths are small moths that fold their wings back to form a triangular shape when at rest.  The wings are light tan with a coppery-red color at the tips. Larvae, are anywhere from creamy- white to yellowish- green to a pinkish color and often are not seen until they are searching for a location to pupate (unless you go digging through the food in your pantry). Larvae spin a cocoon to pupate, usually near where the walls meet, near the ceiling, or in cracks.

Indian meal moth on dog food bag.

So, what was the dreaded task that I had to undertake?  I had to go through everything in my pantry to get rid of any infested items.  If you try to only manage the adults you will not completely get rid of your problem since more adults will emerge and you'll be back to square one. You need to find the source and get rid of it.

Larvae feed on flour, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, crackers, dog food and a slew of other items. When I started my search, I began at the back of my pantry because that's where old items that don't see the light of day end up.  Since older stored products are more likely to harbor pantry pests, this seems to be a decent strategy in my opinion. I went through and checked everything; even items that haven't been opened.  Problem solved after all infested items were thrown away.

If you can't part with a particular item and would like to still use it, you can either put it in the freezer for a couple of days to kill the insects or you can spread it on a baking sheet and bake it on the lowest oven setting for about 4-6 hours. Once the insects are dead, you can either eat the product with the insects in it (added protein) or yo
u can sift/ pick the insects out.

Pantry pests

Infested chocolate.

Last week in a pre-Thanksgiving crazy air of frustration of not being able to locate anything, I decided to clean out and organize our pantry.  I'm a "put things back where they belong so I can find them later" kind of girl while hubby is a "cram things wherever" kind of guy.  A smooth marriage this does not make.  While he is getting better after 12 years of my explaining (and crowing that I'm right as he grumps around looking for things that "get lost") it's easier to find things later on if he takes the 30 seconds to put it where it belongs in the first place, he still fails miserably when it comes to keeping the pantry in order.  (Baby steps....)

Rice weevil.

While cleaning and organizing, I decided to throw out items that were really old.  Why, you ask, would I throw out perfectly good food?  I did it so I can avoid pantry pests.  Pantry pests can become a problem in food that hasn't been used in a proper amount of time.  Often people will leave the home for a period of time- i.e. on vacation- and when they return they discover bugs in the pantry.

While there are a variety of pantry pests that can occur, they best way to get rid of them is to go through the items in the pantry and throw away what is infested.  Often people stop looking for insects when they find the first thing infested.  That can be a mistake since multiple items can be infested.  Continue to inspect everything in the pantry and even check items that haven't been opened.

If you want to learn more about pantry pests, come to my free seminar in December (information below).

What: Seminar on pantry pests
When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012; 9-10AM
Where: 1600 Smith Road Austin, TX 78721
Cost: FREE