Pantry Pest Traps and Control Measures

# Place exposed food in containers with tight-fitting lids .

# Periodic cleaning of the shelves helps to prevent infestation of stored food products by pantry pests.
Certain pantry pests need only small amounts of food to live and breed.

# Some infestations of packaged food originate in the food-processing plant or warehouse.
Broken packages should not be purchased, or should be exchanged for unbroken packages when discovered, for the chance of these being infested is greater than for perfectly sealed ones.

# Do not mix old and new lots of foodstuffs.
If the old material is infested, the pest will quickly invade the new.

# If you are unsure about an item being infested, place it in a plastic bag where you will be able to catch anything that emerges.
If you find the pantry pest accumulating in the bag, you know the foodstuff is contaminated and needs to be discarded.
To insure any item is pest free, store it in these clear bags for at least a month. Sometimes it takes even longer for the adults to emerge.

# Infestations are most likely to occur in packages that have been opened for the removal of a portion of the contents and then left unsealed for long periods.
Some of the pests may find their way into other food packages, but even those in a single package may become so numerous that large numbers may find their way into every suitable material in the home, and will eventually crawl over floors, climb up walls, and gather about windows.

# Clean old containers before filling them with fresh food. They may be contaminated and cause a new infestation.

# Make sure that cabinets and storage units are tight and can be cleaned easily.

# Store bulk materials, such as pet foods, in containers with tight-fitting lids.

# Keep storage units dry. This is important because moisture favors the development of pantry pests; dryness discourages them.

# Some pantry insects breed in the nests of rodents and insects and may migrate from these into homes. Eliminate any nests found in or near the home.

# Pantry pests can also breed in rodent baits. Be sure to frequently check and discard infested baits.

Controlling Temperature:

When packages of food are found to be infested with moths or beetles, either low or high temperatures may be used to control the infestation. Insects are cold-blooded; their body temperatures closely follow that of their environment.

The most favorable temperature for most pantry pest is about 80°F. Above 95°F or below 60°F, reproduction and survival is greatly reduced.

When temperatures are lowered, insect activity decreases until all activity stops. The quicker the drop in temperature, the quicker the kill.

Although insects will be killed, their bodies will remain in the food unless sieved out.

An exposure of 2 to 3 days to temperatures of 5°F or lower kills the more susceptible stages (larvae and adults), but eggs require longer to kill (3 weeks).

An alternative is to freeze the food for a week, remove it from the freezer for a few days, and then refreeze it for another week.

Pantry Pest Traps and Control Measures

General Information: Fabric Pest

Cloth Moth Traps and Control Measures for cloth moths and beetles

The most prevalent fabric destroying insects in the U.S.A. include two clothes moths: Webbing Clothes Moth and the Casemaking Clothe Moth
and three carpet beetles: Black carpet beetle,varied carpet beetle, and furniture carpet beetle.

The first thing needed to done is the elimination of the source of infestation.
You should make a thorough inspection of infested premises to find all sources of infestation.

In the northern states east of the Rocky Mountains, damage to fabrics is more likely caused by dermestid beetles than clothes moths. Dermestid beetles are more resistant to cold temperatures and lower humidities of the northern states. In the southern states, clothes moths are more likely to be a problem because of higher humidities and temperatures.

Insects of the remaining groups, crickets, silverfish, cockroaches and termites usually feed on substances other than fabrics. However, these insects will feed on fabrics, especially when the fabric has food or perspiration stains on it.