Any clean housewife takes care of the cleanliness of the room and the safety of food. But even with a caring attitude towards your home, you may encounter the problem of insect reproduction. The food moth attacks dry food and, despite its short lifespan, manages to cause irreparable harm to the stocks of caring people. Therefore, as soon as at least one instance of a moth is found in the house, it is necessary to take measures to destroy it.
The appearance of a moth
The food moth looks very similar to the night moth. The color corresponds to cereals and other products where it often lives. The insect is inconspicuous, most often gray or brown with small patches. Interestingly, on the wings there is pollen with a pearly sheen. Moreover, it is difficult to notice it with an external examination. But here it remains on the fingers, if the mole is slammed.
Food moth can fly, buthere the trajectory of its movement is so chaotic that it is quite difficult to catch it. You can make several unsuccessful attempts to catch her and fail.
Most active insect at night. At this time of day, she is usually not disturbed, and she can lead an active life. However, during the day, moths can also be seen, but they are very cautious and immediately after the appearance of a person, they skillfully disguise themselves. Inconspicuous color helps her a lot in this.
Despite the fact that the life cycle of food moth is only about three weeks, it can significantly spoil the life of people in the house. During its existence, the insect brings so many offspring that it is enough to destroy an entire warehouse of products.
What's the difference
Often housewives confuse two types of insects - food and clothes. What a food moth looks like is worth knowing in order to correctly choose measures to combat it. Also, the distinctive features of the parasites will help to identify the main source of their settlement.
The clothes moth is not interested in food, prefers only natural fabrics and wool. It has a paler shade, closer to milky. In addition, the clothing insect is much smaller in size.
Where lives
If a food moth has started up in the apartment, then all grain products are subject to examination. Its main source of food and habitation is as follows:
- rice;
- buckwheat;
- beans;
- pasta;
- sugar;
- peas;
- nuts;
- semolina;
- oatmeal;
- cookies;
- dried fruits;
- dry pet food;
- coffee;
- cocoa.
It is in the packages of the above products that the food moth lives. It penetrates into finished products from dry substances stored in cabinets. But the main danger is not adults. The larvae of the food moth cause the greatest harm. During the period of active growth, they leave feces on food, develop cobwebs and shed scales after rebirth. They are also able to eat their dead relatives, leaving shells from them.
It is worth considering that only larvae eat cereals and other dry foods. If it has turned into an adult, then the moth needs access to water. She now uses the products only for laying new eggs.
What else is a mole unpleasant for? The products of her vital activity clog bags with cereals, they look pretty disgusting. In addition, they are somewhat poisonous.
Where did they come from
If a food moth was found in the apartment, then you should not think that the owners are unclean and do not follow the rules of hygiene. Uninvited guests can be a "legacy" from the previous owners of the apartment or wind up if the supplies are too large.
However, most often food moths enter the house from the store. It is important to understand that unscrupulous manufacturers could neglect the rules for storing and packaging products. In the store, sellers also make mistakes and, if carelessly stored, contribute to the contamination of products.
Thereforeit is important to always inspect a bag of biscuits, cereal or sugar for the presence of larvae or an adult.
Moth can get into the apartment through ventilation ducts, through an open window or door. It can be brought by a neighbor along with a pack of cookies. Especially favorable conditions for the movement of insects are warm, dry and calm weather.
Settling in a new place, the insect is looking for favorite foods and rapidly multiplies in them. It should be noted that plastic bags are not a hindrance for them. If necessary, they easily gnaw through them. Therefore, it is recommended to use tin or plastic cans for storing dry cereals. You can use glass.
Don't rely on cartons. For moths, this is not an obstacle. If a thin cobweb appeared on the surface of the box, then uninvited guests have already firmly settled in a new place. Alas, such a product is subject to liquidation.
Destroy immediately
How to get rid of food moths? This is useful for all housewives to know. Before using radical means, you can try the temperature method. In this case, exposure to both cold and hot temperatures is suitable:
- If the weather is below 10 degrees, then bags of cereals are hung outside the window for 2-3 days. In summer, you can use the freezer for this purpose. This method is suitable for large grains like beans, which can be washed afterwards.
- Infected products can be calcined in a frying pan or kept in the oven for 1.5 hours. Temperature can be 60degrees. Often dried fruits are saved in this way.
Such methods will save some of the products that can be processed and only if the infection is not more than 20%. If the coverage area is much larger, and the moth is found in semolina, rice, flour, sugar and other similar products, then it is better to throw them away. But before buying a new batch of supplies, it is necessary to clear the kitchen cabinets of eggs, larvae and adults to avoid re-infestation.
Processing lockers
How to deal with food moth? This is of interest to many clean housewives. The insect is afraid of sunlight and soap. Therefore, after some products are thermally processed and others are thrown away, a general cleaning should be carried out in the kitchen. For this, water and ordinary soap are used. Best to use household.
It is necessary to wipe all cabinet surfaces with soapy water. Pay special attention to cracks. They may contain insect larvae and cocoons. Dishes and containers where cereals were stored are also processed. Next, food vinegar is used. They clean cabinet surfaces. After processing, it is necessary to ventilate the room and leave the doors of the headset open for 2-3 hours.
Special Traps
To fight insects, a food moth trap is useful. It is a small pyramid with access from two sides. Inside there is a special coating with pheromone. The principle of operation of the trap is that the males are attracted to the smell, they fly to it and stick to it. Thus, you can get rid of them and their further reproduction. populationgradually dying out.
However, it should be noted that the trap, although it has a lot of advantages, still has a significant drawback. The smell of the pheromone is so strong and attracts moths that they can flock from the apartments of all the neighbors. Therefore, it is better to keep windows and doors closed when using it.
Stop breeding
To help get rid of food moths in the kitchen, ordinary sticky tapes, which are often used to catch flies, will help. The method significantly reduces the population of adults, gradually reducing it to none.
You can also use glue traps, which work on a similar principle. Their advantage is more convenient use and the ability to stick horizontally and vertically. It is recommended to place such traps inside the cabinets on the shelves, on the walls and ceiling.
Means of the chemical industry
In stores you can find a variety of drugs aimed at combating food and clothing moths. The remedy for food moths can be divided into repellents and insecticides:
- Repellants. Means that only repel insects. Produced on a vegetable basis.
- Insecticides. Preparations that completely eliminate parasites. They contain a poisonous component.
Choosing a drug
The most famous, popular and effective means of the chemical industry:
- "Raptor". The aerosol is sprayed onto kitchen surfaces. The validity period is at least one year. It is safe for a person. Sent to destroy like adultsindividuals and larvae.
- "Armol". Instant aerosol against adult bloodworms. It has a prolonged effect on the larvae. Spray effect lasts up to six months.
- "Combat". Able to destroy eggs, larvae and butterflies. Aerosol easily penetrates into cracks and nooks and crannies. The range of action is significantly expanded due to the possibility of getting into the narrowest gaps. It is completely safe for people and animals.
It should be understood that such products are used away from food. This means that before processing the lockers, all bags of cereals are removed. Otherwise, if the aerosol gets into them, the food becomes poisonous and can cause significant harm to he alth.
Additional features
To get rid of food moths, you can use different methods. In addition to aerosols, there are other forms of preparations on sale. Most commonly used:
- cassettes "Zitol", "Fitocide" and "Arsenal";
- Prayer plates;
- tablets "Antimol".
Such products are laid out inside kitchen cabinets and significantly repel insects. Food moth steadfastly bypasses such premises.
Granny's methods
If the hostess is not satisfied with the drugs offered in the store, you can use folk remedies for food moths. Our grandmothers knew well how to deal with this scourge, because the stocks used to be quite large. The essence of all folk methods is reduced torather pungent odors that moths cannot stand:
Lavender. The aroma of lavender is not tolerated by any moth, whether food or clothes. The plant extract is successfully used in industrial products. You can simply arrange fresh flowers in cabinets, as our grandmothers did. But there is an easier way. An extract of flowers is applied to cotton swabs and laid out inside the kitchen set. You can sew small pillows by filling them with dried plants
- Citrus. They have a rather pungent odor that repels adults. Lemon or orange peel and zest should be laid out around the perimeter of the cabinets and updated regularly. You can also use essential oil and a swab dipped in it.
- Garlic. In the container where the cereal is stored, you can put a couple of cloves. This method reliably repels moths, but is not suitable for sugar, coffee and other products that absorb odors. Can be used in cereals.
Bay leaf. Simple and reliable way. Laurel sheets are laid out inside the cabinets. You can put them inside a container with cereals
- Aromatic oil. There are a lot of smells that repel moths. The most reliable are wild rosemary, basil, geranium, tansy, cloves, rosemary.
- You can use wormwood in a country house. The plant simply unfolds inside food boxes.
- Camphor oil will not only get rid of moths, but alsowill not let her get close to your home.
Preventive measures
In order not to wonder how to get rid of food moths, it is better to prevent their occurrence altogether. To do this, you should regularly carry out preventive measures:
- Keeping order in the kitchen. Wipe interior surfaces with vinegar.
- For moths, musty and stale air is favorable. Therefore, it is necessary to ventilate the home more often.
- It is recommended to check the packaging in the store. It is better if it is transparent, so it is easier to see what is inside. If an infected cereal is found at home, it is better to throw it away.
- It is better to store food in tightly closed jars.
- Use bags of fragrant herbs in cupboards. It is completely safe for humans, but rather unpleasant for insects.
- All ventilation ducts must be closed with mesh or grating with small holes so that insects do not get from neighbors.
- Don't make global stocks of cereals. If they become infected with moths, then everything will have to be thrown away.
- So that the moth does not start in the container, you can use the military method. It is necessary to carefully clean an ordinary nail and put it in a jar before filling the grits.
Through prevention, you can prevent the appearance of moths and protect products from contamination.
