Pantry & Stored Food Pests

Pantry pests include, but are not limited to Rice Weevils, Granary Weevils, Grain Moths, Grain Borers, Drugstore Beetles, Tobacco Beetles, Indian Meal Moths, Confused Flour Beetles to name a few. An infestation of a stored product pest means eliminating the source of the infestation in order to achieve control and elimination. In private residences these insects are usually brought into the home in products from the grocery store. You must check everything sealed or unsealed including cereals, spices, flour, meal, dried products, bird seed, pet food and so on.

The key is to check everything and eliminate any products that show signs of infestation. It is also important to check areas where foods have been spilled for hidden debris around crack and crevice areas. Sometimes rodent problems such as mice are also a complication in the inspection process since they take food debris and hide it in other areas. Bird seen is often one of the major sources of many problems. Indian meal moths can take 25 - 135 days for moth egg-egg development cycle to occur. One moth can lay 100 - 400 eggs over a 1 - 18 day period. Anything in the pantry, kitchen and surrounding problem areas needs to be checked. If all the infested sources are not removed then the problem will continue. Moths and beetles go through a complete metamorphous from an egg to larva to pupa, then an adult.