Got Kitchen Pantry Moths? You Can Get Rid of Them!

Ugh! I HATE those pesky kitchen pantry moths that love to hatch out of your rice and flour bags. I always seem to get them now and then, and just throw out the food source and move on. Not so this summer, when I returned home from vacation to a nasty infestation. Out goes the food, then the commencement of cleaning and eradication begins. Once you are really infested, short of just bug-bombing your home its hard to get rid of them.

But guess what I just found that saved the day!

They sell an inexpensive moth catcher designed specifically to help draw the little moths out and trap them.  It’s called the “Pantry Pest Trap” by Safer brand.  I wasn’t sure it would work, but I carted myself down to the pesticide section of the home improvement store anyway and asked the employee where I could find them. Of course, he hadn’t heard of them, but I kept looking. Sure enough, there it was, and it was the only brand they carried.  So I bought one package to try it out. It supposedly works using pheromones that draw those annoying little bugs toward a sticky wall that traps them. As soon as I opened the pheromone packet they came out of the cracks and crevices and I had 7-10 immediately flying around me in a confused and dazed manner. I had their pheromone on my fingers… and they were in love

What happened next? I suspect that unless they are looking to mate, the trap doesn’t have a large enough effect to draw them all the way into their impending doom. But, it did trap many, many moths and continues to do so. The biggest effect I believe it has is to draw them out. Once out in the open I catch them with the ‘ole fly swatter. This little contraption has saved my from bombing the house with pesticide, which I was trying to avoid with the young kids in the house.

Pest Trap Tip: Read the instructions!  When you open the package and see the simple little contraption, its easy to just read the first few lines and then stop.  I made the mistake of doing that.  It comes with two traps, and what I failed to read was that they are not very very effective if you place them too close to each other.   I think I missed the opportunity to initially catch more because my traps were too close together and the moths didn’t know which way to go.

The catch?  If you are already significantly infested, BUYING  THE TRAP IS NOT ENOUGH .  You still have to clean everything thoroughly. So…

• Throw out any infested food.  These pests love dried foods, including: wheat, cornmeal, dried fruits, seeds, crackers, biscuits, nuts, powdered milk, dried pet food, bird seed, chocolate, red peppers, tobacco and cocoa beans.
• Clean your cupboards, cracks and countertops with soapy water. Follow up by taking an extra step and cleaning the crevices and cracks with vinegar.
• Don’t forget to look UP.  You may find eggs, larva and mating pests in the corners where the ceiling and walls meet.  I have also heard that placing bay leaves in your cabinets works, but I haven’t had any luck with that.

From now on, I will always have a couple of these traps in the house.  They are supposed to last up to three months, so hopefully it will keep catching any leftover or new moths that make it into my kitchen.  That little pantry pest trap, combined with a little preventative maintenance and a good cleaning, can get rid of those annoying little food bugs for good.  It has worked wonders for me so far.  Good luck!