ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Meal Moth Control

Updated on February 21, 2012

Their scientific name is Indian Meal Moth but you may see them called Grain Moth, Flour Moth or Meal Moth.

You pay too much for your groceries to have pests take over and ruin your food. I’m going to help you keep them out to begin with and also tell you how to get rid of them if you already have an infestation.

It took me a while to realize what I had and how they got in. When you find them in your staples they appear to be little white worm looking creatures with webbing. Yes, it is disgusting.

The only thing you can do if they have made their home in your food is to throw it out. There are eggs and larvae you can’t even see so trying to save any of it is useless.

What to do if you find them in your food

Throw away every food item with infestation and clean the cupboards out with a disinfectant solution. You will find residue and even larvae in the dark corners of your storage area; make sure you clean all these areas thoroughly.

Clean all areas including behind appliances. When moths fly into your home they lay eggs near a source of food so it’s important to get all areas to remove any eggs. After the eggs hatch the larvae, which are caterpillar looking bugs will eat through containers to get to a food source where they weave a spider web looking mess.

They love old boxes or bags of food you’ve forgotten in the back of your cupboard where they can feed and grow undisturbed.

How to keep them out of your cupboards


First we must understand the nature of the beast and what kind of habitat they prefer.

What do they eat?


They eat dry foods like cereals, cake mixes, pasta, dried fruit, nuts, cornmeal, flour, crackers, dry pet food, bird seed and spices. I've even read they will eat dried flowers.

How do they get in?

Some fly in through your front door when you are coming and going. These are small moths that are a gray or brownish color depending on where you live. They appear harmless but can ruin hundreds of dollars of food in a matter of days.

Some come in your food you brought home from the grocery store. It’s not always the market’s fault sometimes they get a bad shipment from a supplier. Infestation can happen anywhere.

They don’t like low places

Unlike Garth Brooks, these bugs dislike low places. It may be due to predators in the wild that eat their young, I’m not sure I just know that storing your staples down low are safer from infestation. Consider putting your pans and canned goods on the higher shelves and your bagged and boxed foods on the lower ones.

Cedar

This tree has natural oils in it that deters pests. Cedar has a nice aroma and unless you are allergic won’t harm you or your groceries.

Put some cedar chips in a clean old stocking and place on the shelf. This also works in your closets to keep their cousins, the Wool Moth or Webbing Clothes Moth, away.

Mothballs

Do not use mothballs around food. This is a poison and the aroma can permeate into your pantry giving a horrible taste and smell as well as being hazardous, you don’t want that.

Glass or plastic airtight containers


I don’t like to use insecticides around my food so finding ways to keep them out is much better in my opinion.

Baking ingredients, cereal or any other edible items should be taken out of the original cardboard or bag packaging and put in sealed canisters. This will keep moths as well as other insects from getting in. They love cardboard and bags, they can eat right through these without any problem and will then lay eggs that later make a terrible mess in your food.

Any food should immediately be put in an airtight container or the freezer upon entering the house.

Freezer


If you have one, these are wonderful for keeping groceries safe from pests of any kind as well as lengthening the shelf life. Extra pasta, baking supplies or chips will keep much longer without worry of infestation.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)