Get Rid of Pantry Moths Without an Exterminator

I don’t like to use pesticides in the house. I will when I have to but would much prefer more environmentally friendly products. I noticed that I had little moths in the house and was trying to deny that they were coming from my pantry. I took everything out and checked inside the boxes and finally found the culprit. There was a tin of dried soup that I hadn’t used. I opened it up to find moths flying up in the air. I was horrified. I cleaned the pantry and thought all was well.

Several Weeks Later!

I noticed a new crop of moths and found them wriggling (their baby larvae, shudder shudder) in another box of pancake mix. I tossed out flour and a special bread flour and all other expensive pasta and rice products. Like I could afford to do that. I cleaned again. More moths in my pot holder drawer. They were not satisfied with just destroying our food, they moved on to my kitchen drawers and later invaded the bird seed in the garage.

You may notice when you are watching television at night that the little darlings will fly around attracted by the light. You think you have killed one and then more appear. My dog will catch and eat flies but I have not trained her to catch these moths or I could avoid having to buy traps. It was a good idea though.

What are they?

I found out that these little buggers are called Indiana Meal Moths. I also saw them referred to as Indian Meal Moths. You can purchase special moth traps for them online. The trap has an exciting moth lure. They get excited by the phermones that are in the glue. You may need several and you can get refills. You first want to find where the major source of the infestation is.

Clean everything out AGAIN! Then put these traps in areas where they will be attracted. It will kill them and hopefully you will not need to purchase anymore. You can get refills if need be. You may want to try your local pet and garden store and avoid paying shipping. They cost approximately $10.00 per trap so if you don’t have to pay shipping it will be less expensive. I hope this works for you.