Hunt

I'll also confess that when I first saw the thread, I thought it said "Panty Moths"--perhaps an even better name for a rock band.

NJres

Thank goodness! For a sec there I thought you had butterflys in your underwear! We did get the moths once; emptied our cabinets, cleaned everything out, repacked... no more problems. We did find an infested opened package of almonds.

travelnut

JustaMom5465- I had a small run-in with pantry moths recently. They were in a box of quinoa-look for pale yellow/cream webbing. I threw almost all non-jarred foods out, cleaned the cabinet thoroughly and found 3 eggs waiting to hatch outside the food boxes. They were on the edge of my cabinet shelf and under the edges of the adhesive contact paper which I then completely removed. I put up a trap after cleaning and throwing away food, but have seen no moths or other evidence since. I think any cleaner works, but I am not sure.

I am inexperienced with pantry moths and wondered if you freeze your grains for 48 hours before storing them in tightly sealed containers, are you killing existing eggs in the food, removing the possibility of them developing or something else? Thanks for the info.

astrophysicsmom

I'm with the others who recommended the "traps". (They are cardboard with sticky stuff that fold into a standing A-frame "house"). I do recommend all the freezing and storage advice, but to REALLY get rid of them once and for all, I would suggest keeping one of these traps in the offending cabinet from here on (so that moths from any eggs you don't find will get caught).

interesteddad

I got an infestation in a bag of dried anaheim chili peppers. There were in EVERYTHING. Cleaning your cupboards won't work. You'll never get all the eggs.

Putting these traps out got rid of them forever:

The Pantry Pest® Moth Trap In Action - YouTube
The Pantry Pest Trap | Pantry Moth Trap | Safer Brand

The trap has a scented lure that attracts the male moth. Within a week, the traps will be covered in male moths. By wiping out the males, you break the breeding cycle and the population is wiped out.

I put out three or four of the traps around the kitchen. I just put them on top of the kitchen cupboards, spread around the room. I think i put out some replacements three months later, but, by then, there were no more moths to attract. Works great. You can always leave a trap or to out forever, but after I got rid of them, I never trapped another moth.

I would not bother doing the major clean and replace everything until you've had the traps out for a few weeks. Start there, and then start the throw away, clean and replace process.

swimcatsmom

We have had these and weevils in the past. They seem to like flour of course, but last time we finally tracked the source to an unopened box of oatmeal. have also found they like certain spices.

Take everything out of your cabinets and go through every container. Freeze what can be frozen. We washed the cabinets then got a spray from the exterminator and sprayed the cabinets making sure to spray down crevices and nooks and crannies. I put everything in zip lock bags or plastic seal-able containers, but I did not put stuff back in the cabinets for several weeks.

I must get some of those trap things.

Marian

In my case, the infestation turned out to be in a jar of sesame seeds that hadn't been closed tightly.

mathmom

I've had the moths in unopened bags and glass jars. The larvae come in with the stuff. I now put anything that I don't go through quickly in the freezer. Glad to know about the traps though!

Bromfield

I had an infestation in a bag of Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo flour. Threw it out immediately and checked everything in that particular cupboard and got rid of anything suspicious. I now keep flour in the fridge. Will try the traps if I get these critters again.

musicprnt

I agree with others, about keeping flour in the fridge, having things sealed and so forth. If you have an infestation, get the traps (I use the ones someone else described, the cardboard ones that look like an A frame), they work and after a while it seems to get rid of the infestation. Pet foods are attractants, it is where it started in our kitchen that way.

Onward

Check any nuts too. I now keep walnuts, pecans, etc for baking in the freezer.

JustaMom5465

*sigh* I'm reading through what all your culprits were, saying "oh, I have that, and that, and that, and that, and that.....". I think my pantry is nirvana for moths.

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flowerqueen

Check everything in your pantry. With a bad infestation I found them on the bottom of glass jars and even under the lip of unopened jars. I threw every single thing away. My exterminator sprayed and so far no more problems.

I've also found them inside zip bags, but don't know if they were already in the food I stored in there or if they chewed a hole and got in.

cottonwood513

They like old books, too. Another peaceful coexister here. I got mine free with birdseed. Life goes on with grains in tins and glass jars. If you turn your heat up, it seems to speed up their life cycle.

1moremom

I also find them in my birdseed (sunflower hearts). I keep that outdoors in an aluminum can now (with a large rock on top to keep the raccoons out).