How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen: effective methods

There is nothing pleasant about food moths appearing in your kitchen. These insects always cause a lot of damage, problems and inconveniences to the owners of the apartment. They can even start up in a room that is kept perfectly clean, and fighting them takes a lot of time and effort. However, it is possible to remove the kitchen moth if you use the effective tips and remedies suggested below. In this article, we will show you how to get rid of food moths in the kitchen and how to prevent their appearance.

What is food moth, where does the parasite come from and where does it live?

A food moth, also called a kitchen or grocery moth, is a small gray or brownish butterfly. There are many photos of her on the Internet. The body reaches a length of about 10 millimeters. It is predominantly nocturnal, so the owners rarely notice its appearance on time. It flies quickly, has a good reaction, is excellent at maneuvering, so it will be hard to swat an insect in the air with your palm, newspaper or fly swatter. In the daytime, he hides in secluded places where direct sunlight does not fall and a person rarely looks in, for example, in the corner of a hanging cabinet. The life cycle of a moth starts from a few days, but can last up to three weeks. During this seemingly short time, the insect is able to lay off many larvae, which will spoil the life of the owners of the house for a long time to come.

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The kitchen moth lives and thrives in almost all dry foods. It can be flour, tea, coffee, bulk products (sugar), cereals and cereals (rice, buckwheat, millet, semolina), nuts and even dried fruits. The larvae laid by adults spoil the contents of numerous cans with waste products and particles of the integument, which they shed as they grow and develop. Obviously, food that has been visited by an adult or a food moth larva is unfit for food and irrevocably spoiled.

A kitchen moth can easily live and develop even in an airtight jar without access to oxygen. The lack of a constant supply of fresh air does not interfere with the normal life processes of these insects. If the groats have already been infected with larvae, they will definitely grow and continue to spoil your life.

There are several main types of food moths:

• cereal - a variety of cereals seem to them to be more nutritious;
• flour - lives and reproduces, for the most part, in flour;
• fruit - lays eggs on seeds, dried fruits, in some types of tea.

Clean owners, faced with a similar problem, have the same question: "What are the reasons for the appearance of these unpleasant insects in the kitchen?" The answer is simple. It's not about the well-groomed condition of the room and not about the order in the kitchen. Food moth enters the house along with purchased cereals, flour or fruits. Unfortunately, in shops and markets, the necessary rules for transportation and storage are not always observed. If the product is already infected with eggs or larvae, they will certainly begin to develop in your apartment. Therefore, we advise you to buy cooking ingredients only in trusted places, as well as carefully inspect products for possible threats.

Adults can safely enter your house through a loosely closed door or window, through vents or ventilation systems that connect your apartment with neighbors.

Harm and danger

What is the main danger of food moths? The harm to the person she causes is not critical, but there is little pleasant in such cohabitation. During its short life cycle, an adult is able to lay up to 400 eggs, which, as development will make food unusable, contaminated with excrement and residues shells.

Eating foods contaminated with kitchen moth eggs can lead to the following unpleasant consequences:

• problems with the immune system;
• disorder of the digestive system;
• intoxication of the body;
• allergic reactions.

General rules for insect control

What to do with food moths, how to get rid of the invasion of unwanted guests? There are some general tips and tricks on how to remove food moths quickly and effectively:

1. Throw away all contaminated foods. Groats moth: how to get rid of it? The first step is to check all dry foods for eggs, larvae, or adults. Go through all the cans and all the nooks and crannies. If you are not sure about any of the ingredients, it would be better to get rid of it anyway just in case.
2. Treatment with soapy water. The moth is afraid of direct sunlight and soap. Therefore, it is worth walking with a sponge dipped in soapy water over all dishes, storage containers and surfaces inside drawers and cabinets where pests can live.
3. Treatment with vinegar solution. Apart from light and soap, moths are intolerant to vinegar. Wipe the inside of the cabinetry with the mortar and leave to dry.
4. Chemicals. Modern technologies make it possible to produce effective remedies for all types of insects. It will be inexpensive to buy one of these tools, and the result will be visible instantly. However, be careful with this in the kitchen, do not use chemicals near food.

Aerosols

Aerosol is an option that is not quite suitable for use in the kitchen, although it is very effective. It is inconvenient in that it cannot be applied directly to the focus of infection, since the chemistry in the composition will certainly poison the products. However, it can be sprayed onto the inner walls of cabinets and wait a while until the agent works. It will be possible to put food back on the shelves only after the caustic aerosol solution has been washed off with soap and water.

Traps

A moth trap looks like a small sheet with a sticky surface. It exudes a scent that attracts kitchen moths. The lured insects move to smell, stick to the surface of the leaf and die. Traps are placed on the inner walls of the cabinets. They are usually enough for 3-5 weeks, since after they cease to exude an odor or there is simply no free space on them.

Folk recipes

Let's say you don't like artificial methods of fighting food moths. How to get rid of folk remedies without resorting to aggressive chemistry? There are some simple tips:

1. Place a pot of geraniums on the windowsill. This plant is known for its preventive properties against many insects.
2. Place one of the following foods on the shelves of your kitchen cabinets: garlic cloves - moths don't like the pungent smell; bags with cloves, bay leaves, mint, pepper - spices repel insects; peel of orange, lemon, grapefruit - the smell of citrus is unbearable for all types of room moths.

Prevention of the appearance

In order to avoid the appearance of annoying food moths in your kitchen, you should adhere to the following simple rules:

1. Ventilate the room regularly, do not let the air stagnate.
2. Choose glass or metal storage containers.
3. Store food in the refrigerator, because at low temperatures insects lose their ability to reproduce and die.

Happy insect control!

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