Pantry Moths

We got some of those bastard things a couple of months ago. First time I had heard of them. You got to get rid of everything to concur them. There were little pin holes in unopened sleeves of crackers and other things. If it's in a bag or box they may have laid eggs in it.

Order some pantry moth traps from Amazon. I was skeptical but the wife opened one trap and you have to place a separately packaged pheromone in the glue trap that attracts the males for sexy time. Before she could get the trap set up there were moths circling her head looking for moth loving

Moth Traps

We took everything out of the cabinets. Cleaned the interior of the cabinets paying special attention to the top corners and any gaps they could lay eggs. Inspect anything in bag or box carefully for tiny pin holes. If you suspect the moths may have got in it. Throw it out or put it in some type of sealed container like Tupperware or freezer. They also like dry dog/cat food.

Like you I thought it was just some random small moths getting the house. When the wife told me it was pantry moths. It took about two weeks after cleaning, throwing out food, and placing traps until all of them were gone. Kill everyone you see flying around.

Best way to prevent a recurrence is to keep everything in airtight glass or plastic containers (not bags). They seem to emerge from bulk items like beans, peas, rice, bulgur, etc. It only takes one infestation to change the way you store dry goods, as they're a freakin' nasty mess.

Now, I've got a plague of silverfish, which I believe came in from a Costco bundle of paper towels. Those little boric acid roach tabs are also good for silverfish, FYI.

If you have popcorn ceilings, they will make "nests" like crazy. We had an infestation from bird seed once and I had to practically tear apart a ceiling pulling them off

Buying one out of principle.

I also bought a bunch of Cambro containers from Sam's to store bags of dried beans, flour pasta and things like powdered sugar. I trashed anything in a cardboard box or plastic bag they infiltrate anything and everything!

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How do you store things like cake mix or any other type of food that comes in a box and bag? Something tells me I don't buy as fresh as many on this board, so many things I buy are the boxed type of thing (macaroni and cheese etc).

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Even boxed items need to be sealed in an airtight container. Take every damn thing out of your cabinets, clean thoroughly, then any boxed/plastic bagged items need to go into an airtight container. If you don't have containers big enough for the boxes, you can take out the polybagged contents, clip off the cooking instructions, and fit that stuff into an airtight container. Cheap ziplocks won't do the trick--heavy duty/freezer or (better) rigid containers will keep 'em out.

I once had a recurring infestation and discovered that the spice rack was the source. Threw out all of it & started fresh. Cheap non airtight screwcap shaker jars were the culprit. I switched to airtight glass jars w/a seal.

So go look at your spices--they might be infested, too. That cobwebby looking stuff will alert you to their presence.

Big mason jars work well for beans, rice, pasta, granola, etc. wire-bail canning jars w rubber gaskets are also not so pricey. My arthritic mother likes the OXO push button POp containers bc they're sealed but very easy to open with limited mobility fingers.

Or big azz Cambros from the restaurant supply store. The square clear Lexan ones are expensive compared to the opaque white round ones, but stack more easily in cabinets.

I thought I had beat them but they came back after a couple of weeks. The Mrs had overlooked a bag of cat food in the pantry and that was the last source. We have never owned a cat. Why the hell do we have cat food

Maybe I can talk the Mrs into letting me buy spiders to put everywhere.