Pantry Pests

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Pantry Pests

Pantry Pests

Australia is a multicultural country and at least once a month there is a major festival happening for either cultural or religious purposes. All of these occasions usually mean a lot of cooking and baking special goodies for families and friends to enjoy.

You may ask, why we are even mentioning cooking and baking. Simply because there are pests that can invade your pantry and destroy food products!

Pantry pests live in dry goods that are stored in the pantry. They can be found in flour, baking mixes, pancake mixes, pasta, pet food, bird seed, sugar, dried beans or even just hanging out on your shelves. There are pantry pests that feed from the outside of the grain and are known as external feeders while internal feeders eat grains from the inside out. There are other pantry pests that wait for a seed to be broken by another insect and then feed on the damp products left behind.

Finding any type of bug in your pantry can be disturbing, especially if you have never seen anything like that before.

Sydney’s Best Pest Control will advise you on how to eradicate these pests on your own, without the need for a technician to come out.

IDENTIFY AN INFESTATION

  • Pantry moth larvae leave a silky mat in areas they eat. You may notice a silky thread in your cupboards or around food containers or in food.

  • You might see small larvae in your food.

  • You might see small moths around the kitchen. It is possible that you may see pantry moths in other areas of the home.

PREVENTION

Pantry moths are mostly introduced to the home from the store. The following tips will help reduce your chances of a pantry moth infestation.

  • Store all grains, flours etc in airtight containers with a tight-fitting lid.

  • Place some bay leaves on the shelves in your pantry.

  • Regularly rotate food & don’t leave it sitting for long periods of time

  • Examine food packages prior to buying.

  • Don’t buy broken packaging.

  • Purchase less commonly used products in smaller quantities

  • Pheromone traps can be bought from the supermarket which has a sticky surface. The traps attract male moths which get stuck on the trap.

  • Avoid leaving any food open and around that may be eaten by the moths.

  • Keep kitchen appliances clean & free of food debris.

TREATMENT

  • Discard all packaged food

  • Remove everything stored in the cupboard.

  • Remove shelves if possible & wipe down all surfaces with a vinegar solution.

  • Check & wipe down all nooks & crannies.

  • Vacuum the area thoroughly.

  • Discard the vacuum bag.

  • Move & clean inside, under & behind any kitchen appliances.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Pantry moths tend to crawl up to the ceiling to cocoon. If you find you have a pantry moth infestation, check the ceiling both in the kitchen and in the pantry.

Any cocoons that are found need to be scrapped off and washed down with a warm soap wash.

For more advice or if you have completed all the steps above and still have an issue with pantry pests in Sydney, contact us today on 1800 819 189 or fill in the contact form and we will guide you through further steps and if need be organise for a technician to come out and assist you to eradicate the pantry pests.

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