How to get rid of Indian meal moths | Non-toxic

About

How to get rid of Indian meal moths If you have been finding small moths in your kitchen, Indian meal moths are almost certainly what you are dealing with. They are the most common pantry moth in North American homes. The little webby mess in your flour or dog food is their doing. Getting rid of them means clearing out the food they are breeding in and trapping the adults, all without spraying anything toxic around your groceries. What Indian meal moths are The Indian meal moth is a small moth with two-tone wings, coppery at the tips and pale gray near the body. The adults you see are harmless and short-lived. Their only job is to mate and lay eggs on dry food. The damage comes from the larvae, cream-colored caterpillars that feed inside flour, grains, cereal, nuts, dried fruit and pet food, spinning silky webbing as they go. Because they are the same insect as the pantry moth, the fix is the same. (More on the how and why: Pantry moth vs. clothing moth and How long does it take to get rid of pantry moths? ) The non-toxic way to get rid of them Start where you have seen the moths and check the open bags and boxes of dry food nearby for webbing, clumping or tiny larvae. Throw out anything clearly infested. For a sealed staple that still looks clean but you are not sure about, freeze it for a week as a precaution, since a home freezer at 0°F kills any eggs and larvae you cannot see. Vacuum the shelves, getting into the corners and seams where larvae crawl off to pupate. Wipe the cleared surfaces with a vinegar-and-water solution, then spray them with Six Feet Under , which will also drop any moths you catch flying. Hang Pantry Moth Traps to catch the adult males on their pheromone lure and stop them from mating. Once the shelves are dry, puff Dust to Dust in a thin, even layer into those cracks with the Insect Buster , so anything that returns meets the powder. Clear out Indian meal moths for good Find the source: start where you have seen the moths and toss any dry g