Food moths – recognize and fight – but correctly!

Fight food moths – but correctly!

Food moths are actually not moths, but belong to the family of small butterflies. And therefore there is also not the certain moth, no, there are their even three.

These are the brown and white dried fruit moth, the silver-gray flour moth, and the brown and yellow flour borer.

In order not to let the food moth get to your supplies, there are simple but safe remedies.

Take precautions against food moths

It usually helps to store foodstuffs such as rice, flour, muesli, spices, but also pulses and pet food in containers that can be securely closed. This is how you can fight food moths in one way.

Even sealed packages, like the flour bags, are not safe from the larvae. These eat through or crawl through the smallest crack.

In this case you should fight the food moths, otherwise they can become dangerous.

How to recognize an infestation by the food moth?

Food moths, similar to textile moths, like to choose cupboards and walls to place themselves there like dashes. They usually move around crawling or by short bouncing jumps.

If you observe such an infestation, you should in any case check all kitchen cupboards and possible pantries very carefully. This is necessary, since you do not have all the food deposited in one place.

An infestation is recognizable by stuck grains or thread-like white webs, similar to a spider’s web.

You should also inspect all foods for moth eggs, which are smaller than half a millimeter and therefore tend to be overlooked. A magnifying glass is particularly well suited for this purpose.

Health risks due to the food moth

The excrement of the food moth is quite dangerous. Although they do not pose a health risk to everyone, but still caution is advised. Young children, asthmatics and people with other pre-existing conditions are particularly at risk.

The characteristics range from nausea to vomiting to, in the worst case, a life-threatening allergy shock.

For this reason, all food that is infested should be disposed of. This is the only way to fight food moths.

Fighting food moths

Fighting food moths can be done in several ways. In case of a large infestation, simply vacuum up the swarms with a vacuum cleaner and dispose of the bag in the trash can.

Afterwards, it is advisable to check all packaging and containers for webs and eggs.

It is best to pack the contaminated food in an airtight container and also dispose of it in the garbage garbage can.

Put all non-contaminated food in airtight plastic containers. Now wash the cupboards thoroughly and blow dry the cracks with hot air, but without damaging the cupboard.

If possible, hang this and also behind it find out if the moth is there. After these first steps, the destruction of the eggs and larvae now takes place.

For this purpose you can use chemical means, which also have their risks, or you can use parasitic wasps.

Now some will turn up their noses, but these ichneumon flies immediately go in search of and bite the moth’s eggs and lay theirs there.

Here’s how to get rid of this annoying and, under certain circumstances, dangerous food moth.