How to Get Rid of Indian Meal Moths in the House
Indian meal moths have a preference for dried food items like grains and dried fruits. You may notice the brown or gray adults flying around your home. The caterpillars are off-white. You may also notice cocoons in your cupboards or the corners of your ceiling. Getting rid of Indian meal moths in your home requires long-term effort. Even if you kill all the adults, your home likely harbors eggs and larvae. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Examine the food items in your pantry as well as items like pet food and birdseed. Items contained in metal or hard plastic are unlikely to have an Indian meal moth infestation. Instead, these bugs chew their way through thin plastic or paper wrappings to infest foods like cereals, grains, spices and nuts. Check the wrapping carefully for signs of disturbance or chewing. Open the package and look for thin filaments of silk that indicate an infestation. Discard any infested food items.
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Place items that don't appear to have an infestation in the freezer. They may still contain the Indian meal moth larvae, which is difficult to see. Leave food items in the freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for four to seven days, recommends Ohio State University. Take the items out and allow them to sit at room temperature for two to three days. Repeat the freezer treatment to kill the larvae and eggs.
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Place non-infested or freezer-treated food items in hard plastic bins and seal tightly. Keep pantry items in plastic bins for at least a month to prevent another infestation.
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Clean your kitchen and other food storage areas thoroughly. Remove all the items from your shelves and vacuum cracks and crevices to remove all food particles. Scrub all shelves and other kitchen surfaces with a cleaning agent. Indian meal moths quickly locate and can thrive on crumbs. If necessary, pull heavy appliances away from the wall and clean behind them.
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Place several Indian meal moth pheromone traps around your kitchen and other areas of your home to monitor the infestation. William F. Lyon of the Ohio State University Extension recommends using five traps for every 1,000 square feet. The traps only catch the male insects and are not effective for eradicating an infestation. Use the traps for monitoring purposes so you know when all the bugs are dead.
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Tips & Warnings
Before purchasing, examine all food packages for signs of infestation. Don't purchase items with damaged packaging.
Never apply pesticides to food preparation or storage areas.
