Meal moths can take hold in homes

Question: I am visiting my mother for the holidays. I’ve discovered that she has an infestation of moths in her kitchen. I tried to go through all her cupboards, but she said she would finish the clean up job. After finding the wormy little larvae the other day, my skin is still crawling. According to Mom, she’s been seeing the moths since summer. This wouldn’t concern me so much, but soon, after the New Year, Mom is moving  into a retirement home, and we are scheduled to be moving in to this house. How do I make sure to fully rid the house of those awful moths first?

Is major whole-house fumigation necessary prior to move-in to be rid of them once and for all?  We have a small dog and prefer to use as natural a method as possible.

Answer: It sounds like your mom’s kitchen has a healthy population of Indian meal moths. You are seeing the adults, the flying moths and the wormy larvae. There are probably meal-moth eggs and pupae in stored food as well.

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Indian meal moths and any other type of pantry insect live and feed in opened or unopened packages or containers of food. Also, they may be in the cracks and crevices of cupboards and pantries. The source of an infestation can be difficult to pinpoint. Rodents may have collected seeds, spilled cereal or dry pet food and be hoarding these in walls, under cupboards or dishwashers in virtually impossible-to-find nooks and crannies.

Your mother may have originally brought some infested product home from the store, especially if she bought older, post-dated “bargain” products. Or, the insects may have found her stores. Food may have been spilled next to or behind hard-to-move appliances. Have you ever moved your stove out from the wall? There’s a veritable feast for tiny beasties in most homes. Also, many people who have lived in one place for a long time have stored food way beyond its optimal shelf life.

The Indian meal moth is commonly found in homes, as well as grocery stores and food-processing facilities. Nuts are a favorite breeding source; infestations have been found in nut caches of squirrels in attics and chimneys. Meal moth larvae prefer coarse flour, whole grains, cereal, dried fruits, seeds and spices. Foods infested with these insects will have silk webbing present, especially near the food surface.

Adult moths are nearly ½-inch long and have distinctive wing markings. The base of the forewing is pale grey, and the outer two-thirds is reddish-brown with a coppery luster. They have a distinctive way of "resting" on the wall at an angle with their wings folded. Search the web for “image Indian meal moth” for photos of this little pest.

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Meal moth larvae are ding- white colored, with shades of yellow, pink, brown or green. Full-grown larvae are about ½-inch long and pupate in silken cocoons.

When female Indian meal moths are ready to breed, they emit a sex pheromone to attract a mate. Fortunately for us, this pheromone has been identified and synthesized and made into a lure that can catch male moths in a sticky trap. This is an ideal, nontoxic method of detecting the earliest signs of an Indian meal moth infestation and help pinpoint areas of activity. These lures attract males 25 to 50 feet away and last eight to 12 weeks. In a typical home environment, only one trap is often needed. These pantry pest sticky traps are available at many retail locations such as Target or BiMart.

Pheromone traps work to nip a new meal moth infestation in the bud. But once the moths have gained a stronghold in your house, other tactics are in order.

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The Oregon State University Extension Service’s Master Food Preserver program recommends these steps to squelch or prevent another outbreak of meal moths or other pantry pests:

Clean food shelves and cupboards thoroughly, using a pine, orange or chlorine- based cleaner.

Freeze products for a week before storing in tight containers. Place 1 to 15 pounds of food in a heavy (or double bagged) bag and store in a freezer for two to three days. Remove the bag from the freezer and leave in a warm room for 24 hours for condensation on the outside to evaporate. Refreeze multiple times until no further insect activity is observed. Then store open food in tight chew-proof containers.

Store infrequently used unopened food products, including pet food, in containers with tight lids.

Keep a check on dried food items that are infrequently used, such as cornmeal, coarse ground cereals, dried fruits and nuts.

There are no other pesticides legally available for homeowners to use on adult meal moths and other pantry pests.