This is my 2nd month in germany and I finally met one of these in my room today, it actually dropped yesterday night but i dismissed it as a normal bug, today morning I found it and another one in my cieling, killed both, and now I've bought pheromone glue traps, my room is not big and the dried things I have consist of bread, Kelloggs, still packaged rice and bsisa flour (roasted wheat tunisian flour, in a pretty hard and tight plastic bag), I also have sealed spices. I plan on throwing the bread and kelloggs, securing the bsisa blour/rice, vacuuming the place and using the glue traps. Is there anything I need to do? I pray that they just came yesterday from the window
by typh0nic
13 comments
You need Schlupfwespen (parasitoid wasps). The pheromone traps only indicate the infestion. The Schlupfwespenlarven kill the moths.
It‘s biological warfare in our kitchen.
Just as heads up, those things will eat trough almost anything except glass. And sometimes they come WITH the grain from store 🙃
It’s painful to do, but after my experience with pantry moths I would just throw out every potential target food (even if sealed — they can chew through plastic) and start afresh. Also invest in hard plastic containers with a tight seal for storing flour, cereals, biscuits, etc.
how sealed or how hard the plastic container of some dried goods is, doesn’t really matter – from my experience, those little pests will find their way into *everything*. when a friend had them, the only solution for him was to throw out everything that could’ve been contaminated and do a proper cleaning of his kitchen, wiping out the cabinets and cleaning every surface basically.
As others said, the best remedy are Schlupfwespen (Ichneumon wasps), they are so small that you can barely see them and they go for the moth’s larvae, to stop the problem at it’s root. Not very expensive, they come on little paper cards that you just put in a cabinet and then forget about it. Works really well
Funny thing, they can eat through thin plastic and also squeeze through Container lids if they are not water and air proof.
Often the eggs aren’t in the food itself but in the small slits between the shelves and the back of the cupboard. I got perfectly rid of them by doing the following:
1. throw out everything only remotely infested. And by out I mean not just in the kitchen bin but outside of the house!
2. scrub everything with vinegar cleaner. You may still notice the smell the day after but it works.
3. grab your hairdryer and blow hot air in the slits on the side and the back. The heat kills the eggs.
4. make really sure you checked every food item. Found the little creatures in loose tea, dried fruits, chocolate….
Since then I killed every single moth I saw in my apartment instantly in complete panic. Don‘t let them settle down again!!
Fun fact: if the female ones are about to lay eggs, they can‘t really fly anymore. It‘s more like jumping.
Damn, does anyone know if they eat creatine?
As others write, those wasps will help. They go for larvae, not eggs nor the adult moths. The life time of the wasps is shorter than the time until the larvae slip from the eggs, so you need a second and third batch of wasps two and four weeks later.
Glue traps are just an indicator if you have moths, they won’t kill them all.
Check all your dry food. They can bite even through the plastic packaging of most packagings. Best is to dispose of the food, if you are sure something is still good, put it into the freezer for a day, just to be on the safe side.
Check your cabinets. They like narrow spaces like the holes for the removable boards. Oh, check your jars. They like the space between lid and glass.
Did you move into an empty apartment or is furnitured?
They are not as bad as it may seem ob reddit. Check everything that is not packed in glass, especially at the folds. They love nuts, that would be the first place to look for me. Get some glue traps to see how many you got. And for the future always have one of this in your kitchen to notice their comeback immediately. I have them every now and then bit never needed Schlupfwespen to get rid of them.
My solution: keep EVERYTHING in the freezer/refrigerator…. or just eat the extra protein…
They are truly the spawn of Satan’s taint.
We’ve had them before and they kept coming back. Throw away everything you can and if there’s anything you desperately need, put it in the freezer for at least 48 hours. Finally what worked for us was to make a vinegar solution (ratio to water can be found online) and wiping down all the surfaces. Even that took a couple of times to get right. If you have Ikea cupboards or adjustable height shelves, don’t forget the little holes where the pegs go in. They love to put eggs in those and then seal the hole up.
Had some infestation last year (moved anyway so we reset our pantry). Saw one last week in a Amazon package with cat food. Immediately opened the front door and we stash this batch outside.
stupid moths are annoying as heck.
go to a Drogerie or supermarket, they have lots of other things specifically against moths (depending on if it’s a Baumwolle eating moth or a regular moth)
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