I had the same problem last year -- and what's more horrifying than finding them drinking your red wine is seening them fly out of your flour bags! (yuck!)
I've had to control them this summer by making sure that all of my flour, corn starch, oats, etc. is kept in cannisters or in the fridge. They seem to like grains, a lot, and like that article said, the larvae will hatch when you least expect. I freaked out last November when I had bugs in my food, but after throwing out the grains, it all got better. No more bugs drinking the wine.
Good luck! (I feel for you)
I also keep my flour and grains in the fridge which is probably why I never had that problem. I don't remember who told me to do that since it was so long ago, so I never thought about it.
I don't get moths in my pantry up here in the cool northern california coast, but do get bats in my belfry... I did get them in Los Angeles, and usually could ward them off with bay leaves in the flour jar, and other dry goods jars or packages. But they had to be freshened from time to time with new bay leaves.
I think eucalyptus leaves might work, or cinnamonum camphora (camphor tree) but haven't tried them. And I have no idea if they would permeate the flour with camphor smell. Or even if that is unhealthy.
Moths in the pantry = weevils in the food store.
Throw out any foodstuffs not sealed away.
Fly-spray every couple of days for the ones hatching out in corners.
Bugger their balls - get them by their hearts and minds.
you can put that bag of clothes on the curb - i am SURE it has moths in it by now - would not risk infesting Salvation Army with moths. The coats should also go - in bags WITH moth balls and into the basement, there is no way around it, unless you want to have them all dry cleaned and such. and on a lovely weekend day i would throw absolutely everything out of the pantry, clean with clorox, spray, throw out anything suspicious. whatever comes back should be in jars, tupperware, inspected, sealed and such. oh, and maybe put bootsie's food in the hall for now. sounds like fun, no? i'd be willing to help this weekend if you're into it. really, you know i'm a freak when it comes to cleaning.
Ok, we have already thrown out all the unsealed starchy foods. We threw out all other un-used open food stuff. They had been leaving the dog food alone until yesterday - grrrr. We have 3 individuals in one household and we don't have a fridge/freezer big enough for all our stuff. But, we can and do now wrap up our opened starch-stuffs in plastic.
Someone threw out the wine I left there last night so I put another shot of it in there this a.m.
Osso - good idea about the bay leaves. I do have a lot of those.
For a while I was killing all the moths and catipillars I could find once or twice a day. But, it's such a pain in the a$$. I'll get back too it. And, maybe next month I'll buy some of those moth traps.
Lord! What weeny wittle jaws a moth trap must have!
Surely you could not be so cruel - nor abide the tiny high-pitched screams?!!!!!
snap'em with a book, make your own pressed moths album!!!
Dag - didn't see your first post above until just now. Yes yes, it'll come to cleaning the whole thing out. Now's a good time to do it as there isn't much in there as far as food goes. I should bag my coats for now and then take them to the dry cleaner's when I can afford it (putting too much off "til next month"). Pressed moth book, that's good!
Deb, yes, I could be so cruel and gladly. I covered a bottle that a moth had crawled into. It took a week for it to die. I'm evil.
Take it easy on throwing the clothes out......you don't have wool eaters you have flour/meal/grain eaters. Throw out the weevil ridden stuff and follow dlowen's advice........
good luck
I agree that there are moths and moths...
moth woes
good advice though
LOVE the squashed moth idea
yes, no sign of moth bites on my woolens! Thank gawd! This weekend is pantry cleaning time. One of my old housemates even offered to help. Silly woman!
Oddly enough, the new glass of wine held no prisoners. I wonder if I was lucky and had a female moth fly into my original cup. So, I started knocking moths into this morning's wine to up the rate. One of them has to be female, right? Oy.
I don't know how to get rid of them, but cedar prevents them supposedly. You can get cedar blocks from catalogues
wonder what the gestation cycle is on those critters though? Couldnt be all that long you would think?
Glad to hear you're making progress!
My business partner, known to me as Sue, has decided to put a set of cedar 2 x 6's across the floor in her closet.....
You can also get thin strips of cedar. Their a foot or two long about 3 inches wide and very thin. You can take them on the wall like paneling.
You can line a closet with thin strips of cedar, or use 1 x 6's, or a bag of mothballs, I guess. I happen to like 2 x 6's cause I like the look of them, plus, heh, more cedar.
I refuse the moth balls. I'll live with the moths before I stink up my whole house. Current housemates feel the same way.
So, cedar sounds good. I won't be able to really try your advice until after pay-day. The suspense! Please bear with me.
