Date Posted: December 12, 2023
Category: Stored Product Pests
Pantry pests are some of the most annoying pests to pick up around your home, and they bring significant risks to your stored food. Our comprehensive guide helps you understand tactics for prevention and pantry pest control in Augusta.
Pantry Moth Life Cycle: Understanding Their Behavior
Pantry moths are prolific pests with a life cycle that can be as short as 30 days. The pantry moth life cycle consists of four stages - egg, larva, pupa, and adult, and infestations tend to become out of control quickly when proper treatment isn’t received.
Adult pantry moths will find their way into stored food and grains, laying their eggs. You might be able to see traces of eggs in the items or sticky webbing that marks the presence of pantry moths. Eventually, the eggs will turn into larvae that chew away at the food they find themselves surrounded by. From there, the larvae will cocoon themselves when the time is right and eventually turn into adult pantry moths that leave the stored food items and find others to continue the lifecycle.
Without a pantry pest trap or treatment, an infestation of these insects can take over and be incredibly difficult to remove.
Pantry Moth Problems: How They Can Ruin Stored Food
The biggest problem with pantry moths in Augusta is their ability to ruin stored food. As adult pantry moths invade these spaces and chew through packaging or lay their eggs in cereals, grains, and other pantry food staples, the food becomes inedible. This contamination only becomes worse when the eggs turn into larvae that chew their way through the food and eventually cocoon, becoming adult moths. Without treatment, these pantry moths can take over your pantry and cause health problems like upset stomachs if you accidentally consume contaminated food.
Sealing The Deal: How To Properly Store Food To Deter Pantry Moths
One of the best ways to deter pantry moths from invading your property is to properly store and seal food. Open packaging, damaged packaging, pantries that are full of old or discarded food, and pantries with lots of crumbs are all prime pantry pest targets because they present such an easy food source.
Follow our steps below to properly store food as a pantry pest repellant:
- Utilize plastic or glass airtight containers to store opened food to prevent pantry moths from invading the packaging.
- Discard expired food items from your pantry, as the older and more untouched items are, the more prone they are to becoming infested by these pests.
- Always try to use the oldest stored items first before the newest to prevent food from sitting in your pantry for too long.
- Clean up your pantry and remove any spills, crumbs, or damaged packaging to stop it from attracting hungry pantry pests.
- Double-check items you buy from the store to make sure there are no signs of pantry pest larvae or adult moths before you bring the item home.
For more information on defeating pantry moths, don’t hesitate to contact Big Blue Bug Solutions.
Calling In The Experts: Professional Pantry Moth Elimination
If you want to eliminate common pantry pests from your Augusta property, you should contact the experts the moment you suspect these insects are invading your property. Our team at Big Blue Bug Solutions is ready to listen to your pest control concerns and provide you with efficient, effective home pest control solutions in Augusta that protect your pantry and your stored food items from these pests.
Reach out to Big Blue Bug Solutions the moment you notice pantry moths fluttering around your Augusta property and let us provide you with professional pantry moth elimination you can count on.
