pantry moths - Help!

6 years ago

Hi! I seem to have developed a pantry moth problem. The strange thing is, the majority of them are in my laundry room. I haven't seen any in my kitchen cupboards. At first, I thought they were clothing moths, but I looked them up online and they are indeed pantry moths! I just can't figure out where they're coming from. I have a couple of questions:

1) If they are eating food in my kitchen, wouldn't they be flying out of cabinets when I open them?

2) Also, in my laundry room, there is a furnace pipe that goes into the ceiling and there is space around it. Could they be coming from the attic? But what would they be eating up there??

Any help would be appreciated. I've been catching around 16 every day (in moth traps) and most of those are in my laundry room.

Featured Answer

zumba1

5 years ago

I battled them for months. I cleaned everything, threw out anything opened Or unopened in cardboard and bought the pheromone traps. It didn’t help. I even took out all the shelves in the cabinets and cleaned all sides. Still got them. I never saw webbing or larvae but saw them flying. I kept replacing the traps. And then finally, my answer.

i saw some on my screen trying to get IN!! The pheromones in the traps are so strong I was bringing them in from outdoors. I was nervous to throw out the traps because the ones that were there could breed. But, it worked. After about 10 days, all gone. I will never buy those traps again.

I also saw a comment online frowith the same experience. For her, they were coming down the chimney. into

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Comments (10)

Cavimum
6 years ago
A long time ago, we had some in our pantry. I tracked them down to a bag of unshelled pecans that had been there a few years, completely forgotten.
plantzzz
Original Author
6 years ago
Was there webbing or moths in the bag? I can't find any obvious signs that they've infested a food source.
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Fori
6 years ago
Any bird seed around? Kibble or other dry pet food?

And slightly related to bird seed, sometimes rodents nest in attics and stash food so I suppose it's possible that the moths are coming from a food source in the attic--might as well caulk that gap.
plantzzz
Original Author
6 years ago
I have one bag of dried cat food, but I opened the bag and I'm not seeing any moths or worms. I did tape up the hole one day for a few hours when the furnace/air conditioning wasn't running and I didn't see any moths stuck to the tape. I'm afraid to tape it up permanently in case it's vented that way for a reason.
Cavimum
6 years ago
I didn't see webbing. It was so long ago, but I found either dead moths or larvae or something, so I just knew, And after I cleaned it all up, the problem never resurfaced.
Jj J
6 years ago
Try putting some pheromone traps in laundry and pantry. Also move all flours, cereals, etc. into sealed glass or plastic containers. Wash down all pantry surfaces.
PRO
User
5 years ago
Or, deploy the traps outside.
plantzzz
Original Author
5 years ago
@zumba1 Thank you so much for your response! I finally figured out that the traps were the problem! I originally bought them for fungus gnats around my plants and I guess, over time, as I bought more traps, I started attracting moths. And they found an easy way into my house through the vent in my laundry room! Just like you, I started noticing them on my window screens. But again, just like you, I was scared if I threw away the traps, that the moths would keep coming and lay eggs. As the temperature outside has dropped, the moths have basically stopped. My plan was to throw away the traps over the winter, when the months weren't around, but, after reading your story, I think I'll throw them out today!!
Jj J
5 years ago
Wow.