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I seem to have a minor insect problem. My wife and I noticed small moths
flittering around occasionally. I caught a couple and, through some
research, discovered that they are some kind of adult rice/grain weevil. We
only see one at a time and have not seen any swarms or larval worms. We

You describe it as a moth flittering about...weevils are a beetle,
usually don't see them flying about. You probably are dealing Indian
meal moths.


have cleaned out every cabinet and drawer (even the cabinets where there is
no food stuffs) in the kitchen and pantry, washed all the inside of the
cabinets with a weak solution of bleach and water, and threw out everything
that was opened or looked like it could harbor insects. When I say
everything, I mean everything. All that is left in the cabinets are a
couple of unopened and sealed jars, the cabinets are pretty much bare
During the clean up, I found no worms, no worm skins left over after they
emerge as moths, and only found a single dead moth in one cabinet. But the
moths are still around. We only see one at a time. Last night I pulled out
the range and fridge and found nothing but some dog hair. I vacuumed and
washed the areas with bleach water just as a precaution.

They will be found in any sort of plant material, usually what is made
from the seeds. It usually is something you have forgotten about such
as you were given a free sample of a doggie snack and it was put up and
forgotten about...you went through the old herbal tea phase and there
are old tea bags in unopened boxes....you tried a specialty dish that
you don't use all of the special ingredients thinking at some point
you'll make it again, and the years have past since. You need to inspect
all packages, even unopened ones...for the opened packages, rotate the
open box, the moths leave webbing that will be attached to the side of
the box mixed with the food material. For the unopened boxes such as
cake mix, they may not be in the food yet, but the caterpillar may of
crawled under the top of the box to pupate, so even if you found the
source a couple of weeks later moths show up again.

I checked the dog food and cat food and found nothing. The exterminator is
due to come out soon for his bi-monthly service and I will ask him about it.
Do any of you home repair gurus have any advice? I have googled this topic
and found many tips but still can not find the source of the moths.

Call the company ahead of time so they can bring you Indian meal moth
traps (if in fact they are moths) or you can buy them yourself at most
hardware stores.

They also can be found in dried flower arrangements or old bowls of
potpourri. There is another common food moth called Angoumois Grain
Moth that develops in whole kernels rather than cracked or processed
foods.

--
Lar

to email....get rid of the BUGS