Tackling The Indian Meal Moth

Indian Meal Moths are probably the most common pantry pest found in kitchens and pantries. In private residences, Indian meal moths are usually introduced through products brought from the grocery store. Consequently, infestations are usually just in one area, but can spill over into other areas.

Prevention and Sanitation

Infestations are most likely to occur in packages that have been opened for the removal of a portion of the contents and then left unsealed for long periods. Some of the pests may find their way into other food packages, but even those in a single package may become so numerous that large numbers may find their way into every suitable material in the home, and will eventually crawl over floors, climb up walls, and gather about windows.

If you find that you have an infestation of Indian meal moths, follow the steps below.

• Place exposed food in containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Periodic cleaning of the shelves helps to prevent infestation of stored food products by pantry pests. Certain pantry pests need only small amounts of food to live and breed, so by eliminating these sources, you are reducing the likelihood of an infestation.
• Some infestations of packaged food originate in the food-processing plant or warehouse, therefore broken packages should not be purchased, or should be exchanged for unbroken packages when discovered as the chance of these being infested is greater than for perfectly sealed ones.
• Do not mix old and new lots of foodstuffs. If the old material is infested, the Indian meal moth adults and larvae will quickly invade the new.
• If you are unsure about an item being infested, place it in a plastic bag where you will be able to catch anything that emerges. If you find moths accumulating in the bag, you know the foodstuff is contaminated and needs to be discarded.
• To ensure any item is pest-free, store it clear bags for at least a month. Sometimes it takes even longer for the adults to emerge.
• Clean old containers before filling them with fresh food. They may be contaminated and cause a new infestation.
• Make sure that cabinets and storage units are tight and can be cleaned easily.
• Store bulk materials, such as pet foods, in containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Keep storage units dry. This is important because moisture favours the development of Indian meal moth larvae; dryness discourages them.

Controlling Temperature

When packages of food are found to be infested with moths or beetles, either low or high temperatures may be used to control the infestation. Insects are cold-blooded and therefore their body temperatures closely follow that of their environment.

The most favourable temperature for the Indian meal moth and most other pantry pests is about 27°C. Above 35°C or below 15°C, reproduction and survival is greatly reduced. When temperatures are lowered, insect activity decreases until all activity stops. The quicker the drop in temperature, the quicker the kill.

Although the insects will be killed, it is important to remember that their bodies will remain in the food until they are sieved out. An exposure of 2 to 3 days to temperatures of -15°C or lower kills the more susceptible stages (larvae and adults), but eggs require longer to kill (3 weeks). An alternative is to freeze the food for a week, remove it from the freezer for a few days, and then refreeze it for another week.

Article provided by Dynamic Pest Control