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This is really gross: A little animal crawls in the flour package, a cereal buzzes out to a vermin - food moths have spread. Fast help is now the order of the day. In any case, when a moth is sighted, the other foods should be searched and thrown away if infected. These home remedies can help!
The food moths are not disease carriers, but they make the food inedible and simply have nothing in a kitchen or pantry. Such pests are mainly found in baking ingredients, dried fruit, legumes, muesli or spices.
Different types
“Food moth” is an umbrella term for various types of moth. Flour moth, dried fruit moth and grain moth differ somewhat in color and size. For the removal of the moths, it is irrelevant which type it is.
Precautionary measures - So that no food moths spread
As soon as the packaging is opened, food is best poured into sealable containers. Paper or cardboard packaging is not suitable for this. Inventories should be examined at regular intervals. When shopping, the packaging is always best inspected for small holes, because this creates free access for the small nuisances and can then spread well.
As a rule, the food moths are brought home by shopping more often than they “fly in” from the outside, since most of them cannot fly well. Cleanliness is important to counter infestation. Flour, grains or even nut residues should always be removed. In order to keep the moths away from shelves and cupboards, hanging dried lavender or sandalwood is recommended.
The food moths don't like the smell of the bay leaves, nor that of the cloves. Spread bay leaves and / or cloves between the foods. Both of course have to be exchanged regularly. It is also possible to hang up small spice sacks filled with bay leaves and cloves. But these bags also need to be replaced from time to time.
Food stocks should be checked regularly and stocks should not be too large. Blast ventilation is better than a constantly open window. Fly screens attached there are recommended.
Helps to identify moth infestation
In order to determine an infection with food moths, hanging so-called pheromone traps helps. These traps are equipped with an adhesive that secretes a sex attractant. However, only the males are attracted to it, which means that these traps are only used for "detection" but not for fighting. If male food moths fall into the trap, then a thorough inspection of all food must be carried out.
What to do first
If an infestation with food moths is noticed, the affected food must be thrown away and then the complete stocks checked for further infestation. Not only crawling or flying beasts, but also webs of thread, eaten grains or empty doll housings indicate moths. Not the flying moths, but their eggs, the excretions and the leftover pupation - all this contaminates the food.
The infected food must be disposed of, as fungi or mites can settle on the excretions and this can cause gastrointestinal diseases, skin diseases or allergies as a result of consumption
Fight vermin with home remedies
To fight the food moths, home remedies are recommended. Chemical weapons do not belong near food.
Heat and cold
The food moths don't like heat or cold. Infested food is best frozen for a few days before it ends up in the garbage or heated in the oven at 60 to 80 ° C for about two hours. This ensures that the pests are really killed and can no longer creep in again.
Thorough cleaning
After removing the infected food, the shelves and cupboards must be cleaned thoroughly. The vermin can stick especially in the corners and crevices. The cabinets may have to be moved away from the wall and also cleaned from below and behind. A cleaning agent such as a vinegar cleaner or a mixture of vinegar and water in a ratio of 2: 1 is recommended. Then wipe with a warm soapy solution, to which a few drops of lavender essential oil have been added.
With the hair dryer
The corners of shelves or cupboards in particular can be cleaned of food moths with the help of a hair dryer. Since, as already mentioned, the moths don't like heat, the hair dryer is a very effective means. This is held on the affected area for about 5 minutes.
Baking soda as a trap
The food moths are usually attracted to flour. However, if this is mixed with baking powder in a ratio of 1: 4, the moths end up in the flour mixture, but die because they cannot tolerate the baking powder. So you can provide a few traps to attract all food moths and then, if successful, dispose of the flour mixture.
Parasitic wasps - a somewhat strange method
Bringing another insect home to control food moths may sound strange at first. However, this is a very "natural" but somewhat expensive method. The parasitic wasps are almost invisible, make no noise and sting neither humans nor animals.
The parasitic wasps are very small, about the size of an i-spot. These little creatures need a host to reproduce. This is the egg of the moth (food moth or clothes moth). They lay their own egg in there with the help of their laying prick. The larva of the parasitic wasp, which then develops, feeds on the egg of the moth. This means that the moth can no longer reproduce. The new hatched wasp searches for moth eggs and the whole thing starts again. If there are no more eggs, the parasitic wasps disappear, either through the window or they crumble into the smallest dust that is simply sucked away.
You can order the parasitic wasps on the Internet. These are delivered on small cardboards. In order to really completely eliminate the food moths, cardboard cards with the tiny little insects are sent in a certain time window, usually every 3 weeks.
Better not chemistry
The food moths can be eradicated with the help of the above-mentioned home remedies or through the use of parasitic wasps. Insect sprays contain chemical insecticides. These are not harmless to health and should not be used, especially in the vicinity of food. (sw)
Author and source information
This text corresponds to the specifications of the medical literature, medical guidelines and current studies and has been checked by medical doctors.
Susanne Waschke, Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch
Swell:
- Emiliano Nicolás Jesser, Jorge Omar Werdin-González, Ana Paula Murray: E ffi cacy of essential oils to control the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae),, Resarch Gate
- Institute of Pest Control: Pest Control, pestling.de
