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I like the little sticky traps, like this:
Or the generic small sticky tent trap. The trick is to buy from somewhere with high turnover of their stock, as the pheremone has a short shelf-life.
It's just something that happens to the best of us once in awhile. Last time I got them, the culprit was a Jiffy corn muffin Mix. If I am not using any kind of flour product right away, I store them in the freezer.
Or the generic small sticky tent trap. The trick is to buy from somewhere with high turnover of their stock, as the pheremone has a short shelf-life.
These are satisfying as they capture the annoying flying adults, but they do nothing about a little maggots in your jiffy mix that will continue reproducing more and more annoying flying moths and spreading to any other grain based food they can get into.
Optimally control the food supply, but short of a carb-free diet, eliminating all grains from your pantry is difficult
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens
These are satisfying as they capture the annoying flying adults, but they do nothing about a little maggots in your jiffy mix that will continue reproducing more and more annoying flying moths and spreading to any other grain based food they can get into.
The larvae cannot reproduce, only the adult, flying stage reproduces and lays eggs. The pheremone traps, when fresh, catch the adult males before they can find a mate, breaks the life cycle.
I had them once and it took months of due diligence to get rid of them. I would inspect several times a day with a flashlight. The underneath of shelves was a favorite spot to find them. When I found a couple, I would try to find the source. I found them in packages that had never been opened. I also got meal moth traps and set them up inside the cupboard. They won't eliminate them but they caught hundreds. The key is to eliminate all sources until you no longer find any. It becomes virtually impossible to keep boxes of cereal around.
It can be anything from oats, grains, rice whatever. Sometimes these bugs arrive in boxes you purchased at the grocery story. Check closely. If you see bugs, take action. No easy answer, pull them out, dump, clean like a maniac and fog if need be. Then start over. Check your pasta boxes and bags by shaking. Rice, and other sealed carbs, check when open. If you see bugs, dump it! Store in sealable bags in fridge or freezer. Consider changing grocery stores! Good luck.
I had this problem once and like you, OP, I threw out everything opened in the pantry and thoroughly cleaned it. A few weeks later - back again.
So this time I threw out everything that was in a box, opened or not, and then I pulled up every bit of the shelving paper and repainted the pantry shelves. Never had a problem again. That was about 15 years ago. Since then, I have always put opened boxes of items in ziplock bags or plastic containers and I don't use shelving paper anywhere that I store food items.
The larvae cannot reproduce, only the adult, flying stage reproduces and lays eggs. The pheremone traps, when fresh, catch the adult males before they can find a mate, breaks the life cycle.
The larvae can reproduce, they just have to become adults. The concept the traps will catch all the males is a great one - except it does not work that way. Not even in our tiny 6' x 10' pantry with five or six of those traps. They catch a lot of moths, but they do not stop the reproduction cycle.
It's just something that happens to the best of us once in awhile. Last time I got them, the culprit was a Jiffy corn muffin Mix. If I am not using any kind of flour product right away, I store them in the freezer.
I do the same thing these days. I had an infestation which started in a container of bread crumbs. These suckers are already in there when you buy the product. I now put any flour, pasta, bread crumbs, etc. in the freezer for 24 hours before storing in the pantry.
Don't these things start out as bollweevils or do you have a different name for them?
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pheremone-laced "Tent trap"
Optimally control the food supply, but short of a carb-free diet, eliminating all grains from your pantry is difficult
