A different insect problem

14 years ago

I desperately need advice.

Last year I stupidly brought small open buckets of sunflower seeds into the kitchen because it was more convenient than repeatedly going into the cold garage to get seed from the 50 lb. bag.

The seed may have had weevils(?), so I ended up getting little moths. Thought I got rid of them, but they are back, and a few of my husband's sweaters have moth holes for the first time in our 37 years together. I also see some damage to a wool rug.

There are plenty of insecticide foggers that I can use to kill these pests, but are any of them safe to use with african violets in the room? I can't find that info on the boxes that I was looking at. I want to set off multiple cans to make sure I can rid myself of these awful pests.

It is way too cold here to move my collection into the garage for 3 hours. I have too many to put into a warmed up car as the kitties I escape. Especially since they are no longer starter size.

:o(

Bunnycat

:o(

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Comments (7)

irina_co
14 years ago
Nancy -

weevils are beetles. You got moths.- We bought the house - moth came free. But mostly it is moth that feeds on my dry goods.

I am thinking that if you assemble your plants in one room and cover them with a drop cloth (99c in WM) and tuck this plastic thouroughly under they will be OK. You can leave one (spare) outside for test purpose.

Moth larva eats wool. fur and feathers. They do not eat cotton. They die if you freeze them - so I would go through your closets, extract everything wool even it is 5% wool and silk - and leave it ouside in bags to freeze - better if it goes to 0F.

Keep your wool stuff in airtight container - and use lavandula oil as deterrent. Naphtalene is highly cancerogenic.

Be sure to air your house really well - if you are worried about AVs - think about you and hubby.

I think if you hide all their food - whatever left after the treatment will either starve or go to the greener pastures.

Good Luck

irina
bunnycat
Original Author
14 years ago
ugh ugh ugh (and Thank you, thank you, thank you, Irina)

I do have a 3 season room with baseboard heat that I could turn on. Moving 80-ish violets out there will be a pain, especially since my violet-eating kitties will volunteer to help.
I will wait until DH goes out of town, on a day it's not super cold so I can air out, and I have the day off from my part time job. Hope I can find one soon that works.
Covering food prep areas will be another necessary nuisance. Bleh!
Freezing all of the wool that we have sounds like a major project. But I can do that while waiting for the warm day I choose for the insecticide foggers.

Thanks again for the advice, Irina!
~Nancy
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irina_co
14 years ago
Nancy -

seems that you have lots of wool (probably mink coats too ;-)). I am thinking that all wool in my house can be stashed in a 2-3 cardboard boxes.

Irina
bunnycat
Original Author
14 years ago
Irina....

No fur, no way. Well, other than live fur kitties.

But lots of sweaters, and my DH has lots of wool suits.

How can you live in Colorado and not have warm wool sweaters?

Nancy
irina_co
14 years ago
Hmmm - probably because I drive to work? Actually average day time temp is about 45F. Of course it is never average - and I do have a couple of sweaters for the cold days. And since my hubby is retired - he doesn't need suits. Plus it is so dry here - that moths dry to crisp. Except for my kitchen noodles eating moth.

I.
aseedisapromise
14 years ago
So have you actually seen the moths? There are pantry moths that get in flour and such- and maybe that is what was in the sunnies? I think you can get traps for them. If you had those, I think that they wouldn't eat your woolens, though. And if what you have are truly wool moths, I have read that freezing isn't going to kill the eggs of wool moths unless you have a sub-zero refrigerator. Maybe you might just select for the most-resistant-to-cold moths by using a home freezer. The cold in a home freezer will kill the adults, but they aren't the ones eating the wool, it's the larvae. So museums use No Pest Strips, which does kill them. Maybe you could just put all your wool items into big bags with these in that three season room? I had something eating my wool sweaters a few years ago, and what I did was just make sure that I washed or dry cleaned each thing every year, even if I didn't wear it. I haven't had any problem since. The link below is about carpet beetles, which do eat all of the above mentioned articles, seeds and fibers, and are more common in homes than wool moths. Have you recently brought a wool item into your home that originated in a warm place where wool moths survive outside? The link below if from Colo extension, and they have more info on all of these bugs and how to control them if you look around. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: About carpet beetles
irina_co
14 years ago
Yuck -
nope, do not have any of these. I have pantry moths - and I try to move all my dry goods to airtight containers - seems that the amount of them dropped down - probably they feed on leftover spills between the shelves. Plastic bags do not help - they chew through them.
I have an attic full of wasps - and I just killed one in a kitchen - I thought they die in winter except for the queens.

And I have spiders in a basement where most of my plants live - them I consider beneficial - there is always chance of getting fungus gnats - and they are eating them.

I.