How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen? Where to look for her and what is she afraid of? Traps and recipes for folk remedies

The food moth is the main enemy of various foods. Often these small inconspicuous butterflies hide in jars and bags with cereals. Of course, finding such a find is not a pleasant pleasure. Unfortunately, it can appear even in a very clean kitchen, so no one is safe from its appearance.

The moth multiplies at a tremendous speed, therefore, barely noticing the first signs of an intruder, you need to immediately begin to fight him. In this article, we will tell you how to get rid of food moths in the kitchen, and what tools will help you quickly destroy parasites in cereals.

Causes of food moths

In fact, there can be a lot of reasons for the appearance of moths in your kitchen. Here are some of the most common ones:

• Large stocks of food in the public domain. Without food, this insect simply cannot reproduce, so it needs a constant source of food. Often, food moths like to settle in cereal boxes, bags of various cereals and dried herbs.
• Comfortable place to live... This insect avoids light, so it is almost impossible to find this creature in a conspicuous place. They love to hide in kitchen cabinets, closets and other closed and unlit rooms.
• Musty room... Food pests cannot tolerate fresh air. Most often, she settles where there is no direct access to fresh air, but there is food.
• Lack of light... As mentioned above, the moth avoids light, so it looks for completely enclosed spaces for itself without direct sunlight. That's why they love pantries so much.
• Lack of harsh odors. She does not tolerate pungent odors such as citrus, lavender, vinegar, tobacco and eucalyptus.

Algorithm for a successful fight

Ways to kill moths

How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen forever, there is a simple algorithm of actions.

1. View all food stocks, products.
2. Clean up.
3. Process cereals, dried fruits, contaminated foods.
4. Disinfect the cabinet.
5. Dry the shelves.
6. Pour food supplies, products into sealed containers, glass jars with lids.
7. Decompose deterrents.

Food moth life cycle

Despite the short life cycle (about 3 weeks), the moth is quite harmful. Moth's favorite delicacy is dry food: cereals, pasta, sugar, flour, nuts, dried fruits. The food moth does not pose a danger to human health, however, it can cause enormous damage to food supplies.

Having settled in a person's dwelling, the food moth immediately begins to multiply. Insects begin to lay eggs in food. The eggs hatch into larvae, the size of which does not exceed 1.5 centimeters. Outwardly, the insect looks like a moth. Although moths do not harm the human body, in large concentrations, they can carry infectious diseases.

The waste products of the insect accumulate in food supplies.

Such food is no longer suitable for consumption. In addition, the food moth flies around the kitchen, crawls on furniture, dishes, cutlery, preferring to "hunt" at night. Wing scales remain on kitchen utensils.Therefore, before sitting down at the table, the dishes must be thoroughly washed and treated with boiling water.

Reference! The appearance of moths in the house is an extremely unpleasant fact, therefore it is very important to start fighting the pest as soon as possible, until the number of individuals has increased to a critical size. In this case, a moth will be in charge of the kitchen, not a person.

How to recognize the enemy by sight?

Food moth is the household name for several types of moth butterflies (flour, cocoa, fruit and others). These small brown-beige insects they gladly settle in food warehouses, shops and other places where groceries are accumulated.

They are also attracted by the vast food supplies in the apartments. Adult insects are not dangerous, the life cycle of a butterfly is very short. And here caterpillars live longer (up to one and a half weeks) and are surprisingly gluttonous.

It is they who cause the main harm to products, not only eating them, but also leaving excrement, particles of skin and other inclusions harmful to human health.

Adult butterfly easy to confuse with a clothes moth... It is very inconspicuous, has a patronizing color with brown, beige, silver-cream tones. The color of the insect's wings depends on the species. More about where does a mole in an apartment come from?

Caterpillars are whitish, with dark dots on the head.... Insects prefer secluded dark corners, you can find them by sorting out food supplies.

Signs of food contamination

The following signs will tell you that a food moth has started up in the house:

• In the kitchen, m began to crawl and fly.scarlet brown-gray butterflies... This sign is evidence that the moth has already laid eggs in some foods.
• Lumps in semolina and flour... Nuts or dried fruits are eaten from the inside.
• Crawling in jars of cereals or on the shelves of kitchen cabinets milky white caterpillars... If you do not fight the moth, the larvae will begin to crawl through all the available products.
• Cereals, cereals covered cobweb, dark gray cocoons appeared in them. These are the nests of food moths.
• Musty odor on grocery shelves. The reason for the unpleasant smell lies in the waste products and decomposition of insects.

External appearance

Food moth unites several species of this insect. The pest is also called fruit moth, kitchen, cereal, grain, rice, flour, food moth. Such a classification is associated with the insect's food addictions, some prefer to initially eat dried fruits, others grain, others cereals or another product. As the family grows, moth larvae infect almost all edible supplies.

The appearance of the food moth is identical for all members of this family. They differ in color and pattern on the wings. A moth can look like an ordinary night moth. Two pairs of wings, long antennae on the head. The colors are gray, brown, ash, black. On the wings, specks, openwork patterns are noticeable. The food moth in the photo is shown below.

Food moth

On a note!

Food moth eggs are extremely small. It is impossible to notice them with the naked eye. The female lays them in places where there are no direct sunlight, dry, warm, a lot of food. The most favorable place is kitchen cabinets with cereals, dried fruits, food.

After a few days, white caterpillars about 5 mm in size appear from the eggs. Over time, the color takes on a yellowish, brownish, brownish tint. Depending on what the caterpillar is eating. Food in the esophagus is visible through the translucent cover. The caterpillar develops for about a month. During this time, it increases in size up to 1.5 cm. The larvae of the food moth in the photo can be seen below.

Food moth larvae

At the final stage of development, the larvae of the food moth pupate, remain in a motionless state for several days. Then moths appear no more than 3 cm in size.Adult sexually mature individuals are ready for mating, procreation. They begin to multiply immediately.

How to get rid of

To date, there are a lot of ways to get rid of these insects. Some are used to dealing with this problem with old proven folk remedies, while others prefer effective chemicals.

But before you start fighting the unwelcome moths, it is necessary to carry out a general cleaning in the house and identify the source of the appearance of food moths in your home.

Hercules is one of the favorite birthplaces of food moths.

spring-cleaning

For a complete cleaning of the kitchen or pantry, you will need:

• warm soapy water;
• vinegar;
• bay leaf;
• a vacuum cleaner;
• rag;
• freezer;
• hermetic bags and containers;
• essential oils (mint, lemon, eucalyptus, or tea tree).

Cleaning step by step:

1. Empty food cabinets completely.
2. Throw in trash containers all spoiled food.
3. Vacuum the cabinet.
4. Clean the cupboards with soapy water. Do not forget about the most inaccessible places, because this is where insects lay their eggs.
5. Wash old food thoroughly containers in boiling water.
6. Dry cabinets and containers thoroughly. After all, the moth loves moisture very much, so you should not tease this insect.
7. Get rid of the trash. Empty the vacuum cleaner bag after general cleaning.
8. Add a few drops of essential oils to the vinegar bottle and wipe down contaminated containers and cabinets with this liquid.
9. Place a few bay leaves in food containers. It is also recommended to attach several bay leaves to the inside of kitchen cabinets in order to scare away the hated moths.

Chemicals

Fortunately, today there are a lot of different chemicals to combat these insects, which is good news.

They are classified into several types:

• aerosols;
• traps;
• fumigators;
• anti-moth sections.

From the rich assortment provided by the market, people simply dazzle. It is really very difficult to choose the best remedy, since there are a lot of them. Therefore, consumers have compiled a list of the best chemicals for food moths.

Review of purchased funds

Folk remedies

Fortunately, there are many different folk ways to get disgusting moths out of the kitchen. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. Bay leaf... Not many people know that this spice is suitable not only for preparing delicious dishes, but also significantly scares away food moths. Keep the packages of bay leaves open in the cabinet, because small insects do not like this smell so much.
2. Boric acid traps... Mix boric acid with flour and place in a small tin. Then carefully place it in the food cabinet. Most of all, this delicacy attracts not flying moths, but disgusting larvae. But it is also very dangerous. After all, the larva can easily transfer this mixture to other foodstuffs that are in the cabinet, which is very dangerous for you.
3. Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum... Place the unwrapped gum where the food moths accumulate. It contains a lot of sugar, which these insects love so much, so flying lodgers will not be able to refuse a sweet dessert and will soon fall into your trap.
4. By cleaning tangerines, oranges or lemons, do not rush to throw away the peels. Dry them and place them on the shelves of your kitchen cabinets. Food moth cannot stand the smell of citrus fruits, and your kitchen will have a light, pleasant aroma.
5. Dried or fresh lavender flowers have no less effective effect. However, you should not lay them out on shelves where groceries that are not hermetically closed are stored. Lavender flowers give off a strong and persistent scent, so food can smell like it.
6. Wipe the shelves in cupboards with water dissolved ammonia will also help scare off pests. Do not use this method if a family member is allergic.
7. In containers or bags where cereals are stored, you can put on a clove of garlic... Garlic does not change the taste of food, and for food moths and their larvae, it is a deterrent factor.
8. Can be planted geranium on the windowsill in the kitchen... The plant repels not only moths, but also other harmful insects.
9. Dried flowers and leaves of carnation, wild rosemary, rosemary also great for repelling moths.

Of course, folk methods are less effective in the fight against small insects than modern chemical preparations, but for those who are an ardent supporter of a variety of chemistry, they are quite suitable.

How to get rid of moths in the kitchen forever

This means that in order to remove pests forever, you need to deal with them in a comprehensive manner - find and eliminate the outbreak, clean the furniture / ceiling, throw out everything that has been infected and process potentially infected products.

Food moths are of different types. Most often, in the kitchen in a city apartment, you can find: a flour moth, a little less often - a cocoa moth (very similar to a clothes moth) and a southern barn moth (fighting it is more difficult than with others). Where do they come from even in the cleanest kitchen cabinets?

Tiny, almost invisible eggs end up in the kitchen in packages of cereals, cereals, gallets, dried fruits, flour, spices and other groceries. Then, within a week, larvae of food moths hatch from them, which subsequently pupate and turn into moths.

In this material, you will find step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of food moths, what preventive measures to take to avoid its reappearance, and how to save food if it is a pity to throw it away.

Step 1. Looking for the outbreak and contaminated food

Moth eggs look like small white sticky grains that look like semolina. The larvae first appear as small, whitish worms, and then they grow up to 1.27 cm and have black or brown heads. Another clear sign of food contamination is cobwebs, as in the photo below.

Moth-infested oatmeal

To get rid of food moths, the first thing you need to do is:

1. Inspection of kitchen cabinets and products. Examine all the supplies that are stored in kitchen cabinets - you need to find not only the source, but also the products already infected with larvae and eggs.

• Do not forget to check unpacked groceries, because moth easily eats cardboard, foil and polyethylene.
• Pay special attention to the edges of the jar lids - there may be a moth cobweb on them.
• Remember that not only groceries can be infected, but also animal food, seeds for birds, bait for fishing, that is, almost everything that is not stored in the refrigerator.

2. Inspection of the ceiling. Ceiling, skirting boards, wallpaper edges and chandelier base. The moth loves to hide in dark crevices and corners.

3. Inspection of the tops of the cabinets. You can also see moth cocoons here.

By the way, if you are in doubt whether there is a moth in your kitchen at all, or, say, whether you managed to remove it after cleaning, then inspect the room at night - adults will gather around a burning chandelier.

Step 2. We carry out a total cleanup

1. Eliminate source and products with obvious signs of contamination. As soon as you find which product has become the source of the spread of insects, wrap it tightly in a plastic bag and discard it immediately, or better burn it altogether.

2. Clean thoroughly. Empty the kitchen cabinets and remove the shelves, then vacuum them and the inside of the cabinet, paying particular attention to the corners and crevices.

A vacuum cleaner (without a nozzle or with a small nozzle) will tighten the hidden moth and prevent subtle eggs from remaining in the closet. This method is very effective, so if you do not have a vacuum cleaner, you should ask your friends for it. The main thing after the procedure is to throw out the bag or freeze it in the freezer for 3-4 days.

Next, wipe the furniture with a vinegar solution, laundry soap and / or a special food moth repellent, for example, Antimol or Raptor.

3. Wash all containers and jars. This can be done with vinegar solution or laundry soap. Containers containing contaminated food should be frozen for 3-4 days or heated in the microwave for 5 minutes.

4. Vacuum the ceiling. If you find moth settlements on the ceiling, skirting boards, cabinet tops, near the chandelier, or under the edges of loose wallpaper, then vacuum those areas too.

Step 3. We kill adults and put up traps

How to catch adults that have already scattered around the corners of cabinets and kitchens? Males (by the way, harmless, but fertilizing females) can be caught with a glue trap. The principle of its action is simple - the trap treated with pheromone of females attracts males and "catches" them, and without males, the moth, of course, cannot reproduce. Thus, pheromone traps will help prevent insects from reappearing.

Glue trap

Females will have to be killed by traditional methods - a fly swatter or a rolled newspaper, since they fly badly and slowly, it is not so difficult to do this.

Step 4. Handling potentially contaminated foods

So, you threw away the source product and products with clear signs of contamination, but what about the rest of the supplies that outwardly seem clean or were slightly contaminated?

It is easiest to throw them away as well, but you can save potentially contaminated food in the following two ways if you wish:

• After sifting and sorting out cereals, flour or other product, keep it in the freezer or on the balcony (in winter) for at least 3-4 days.
• After pouring the product onto a baking sheet, heat it up in the oven at 60 degrees for at least 40 minutes. Before heating it, of course, you need to clean it.

Keep in mind that the first method of processing, although longer, retains all the vitamins and nutritional properties of the food.

Step 5. We carry out prevention and protect products

1. New or cold / warm processed foods (including pet food) should be placed in glass, thick plastic or metal containers / jars with tight-fitting lids. This will protect the supplies from the penetration of moths and prevent them from escaping outside the container. Recall that cardboard, paper, foil and plastic bags are easily eaten by it.

How to store groceries properly

2. In the fight against moths in the kitchen, a folk recipe is also useful - storing products with natural repellents:

• With a couple of bay leaves;
• With peeled but not cut garlic (a couple of heads are enough);
• With orange peels.

Bay leaf to protect flour from moths

3. You can also place one of the following on the shelves, either: lavender sprigs, birch leaves, geraniums, wormwood, rosemary, laundry soap, or strong-smelling essential oils. For example, fir oil can be used to moisten a cotton pad and leave it in the closet.

Remember that these folk remedies will scare off adult moths, preventing them from laying eggs in food and on shelves, but they will not work on the larvae. Moreover, if you suddenly put a package of contaminated cereals on the shelf with lavender, then the larvae of the moths in it will not die, and the butterflies that appear later will no longer be afraid of the lavender smell. That is why it is necessary to deal with domestic pests in a comprehensive manner.

And a little more about prevention

The following tips will help you avoid moth reappearance:

• Try not to store food for more than 2-4 months and, of course, do not store supplies that are past their expiration date.
• Store foods that you rarely use in the refrigerator.
• Buy dry foods in small quantities so you can eat them within a couple of months.
• Buy groceries only from well-known manufacturers and check the quality of the goods in the store whenever possible. To be sure, freeze freshly purchased cereals, cereals, flour, nuts, dried fruits and other products for 3-4 days (dry).
• Store pet food, such as bird seeds or fishing bait, outside the kitchen.

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P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption - together we are changing the world! <>

What is better not to do

What not to do while fighting moths:

• Even if it seems to you that you have caught all the flying insects, you need to check the cereals for the presence of larvae. The remaining worms will turn into adults and the fight will begin anew.
• Do not use strong chemicals, they can remain on the inside of the drawers and spoil clean food.
• Do not eat contaminated cereals and the rest of the supplies. Everything is discarded, because toxins from insect waste can lead to poisoning.
• In no case, open cereals cannot be stored, baked goods and other products. After all, open access to food is the first thing that attracts small flying critters in your apartment.
• Don't forget about hard-to-reach places, because your negligence can lead to the settlement in your home of not only food moths, but also other insects, which is very unpleasant.
• Don't forget periodically view long-bought cereals and throw them away at the expiration date.

What harm can a mole cause

In addition to the fact that eating food contaminated with cereal moth is extremely unpleasant, it can also be dangerous to health.

While the larva grows for two months, it sheds and sheds its skin, and also leaves a lot of waste products, thereby contaminating food.

Eating contaminated foods, a person can get poisoning of the whole body, can get an allergic reaction, which sometimes leads to sad consequences, there can also be malfunctions of the immune system.

Professionals recommend that at the first signs of the appearance of food moths, the kitchen should be processed as soon as possible, especially if there are children in the house. It is not always possible to immediately detect the parasite in cereals, and the child's body can have a hard time accepting such food from contaminated products.

Prevention of the appearance

In order to prevent small volatile tenants from spoiling your products, the following preventive measures must be observed:

• All dried fruits, nuts and other foods that moth loves so much should be stored tightly closed containers.
• It is necessary to systematically ventilate kitchen cabinets and the kitchen in general, because the moth hates fresh air.
• How can you do general cleaning more often in the kitchen.
• Add a few drops of peppermint or lemon essential oil to the water during normal cleaning, their concentrated odor repels insects.
• Place in the corners of the kitchen cabinet a few bay leaves or orange peel, moth doesn't like that either.
• Don't be afraid to use modern chemicals, because most of them are odorless and fight the hated insects in a matter of minutes.

Video on how to deal with food moths in an apartment:

Sabotage

A butterfly kitchen moth does no harm to humans. She just flutters in the kitchen in the evening, neither eats nor drinks, does not spoil the food. Lives about 2 weeks. Significant harm to humans comes from moth larvae. The female lays about a hundred eggs in her entire short-term life. The larvae are born very quickly, they immediately begin to destroy stocks and products.

On a note!

Caterpillars of moths sharpen food supplies with an enviable appetite, leave excrement behind, weave a cocoon, pupate. With a large number of dangerous pests, almost all stocks of cereals, products, flour, dried fruits, nuts, and tea are infected. Avoid coffee, baking soda, sugar, salt, spices.

Tips & Tricks

• Freeze newly purchased dry foods for a week. After all, there are times when you have already purchased a product infected with insects, which is very unpleasant. Freezing food for a week can kill this insect.
• Stock up on airtight and thick-walled plastic containers. Store all food in them. So you close the food moth access to food, and it will soon leave your home. Indeed, without systematic nutrition, they are not able to reproduce.
• Never buy torn or opened food bags. After all, most likely, this food is already infected and spoiled by insects. Be vigilant when shopping for products for yourself and your loved ones.

A food moth is a small, unpleasant insect that poisons the life and food of people. It is difficult to completely protect your home from this insect, but with the help of all the above rules it is quite possible. Keep your kitchen clean, store food in airtight containers, buy quality products, and don't let the vile moth spoil your favorite treats.

Precautions

It is impossible to provide guaranteed protection against moths entering the apartment, but there are certain precautions. It's easier to follow simple rules than puzzling over how to remove food moths.

• Try not to stock up on large food supplies at home unnecessarily. It is better to buy fresh flour or cereals than to keep a huge bag in the house.Often people are driven by the desire to save money by purchasing a product at a wholesale price. Better to overpay a little than tossing out a twenty-kilogram sack of flour contaminated with flour moth.
• Buy products from trusted manufacturers. The most dubious are the products sold at a discounted price. The store may want to get rid of insect-infested products as quickly as possible.
• Look carefully at cereals, dried fruits, cocoa through transparent packaging. If you find something suspicious in the products (pieces of cobweb, larvae, lumps), put them aside.
• Think of fluttering moths as a distress signal and do not hesitate to clean and revise kitchen cabinets. There are times when the moth starts up in a handful of cereals or flour spilled behind the kitchen cabinet. Don't ignore storage rooms and balconies. Check all places where food is or was once found.
• Check not only dry foods but vegetables as well. Pay special attention to potatoes and cabbage. Certain types of moths prefer these particular products.

Read more about fighting cabbage pest in this article.