On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 14:17:23 GMT, "Les and Gina"
wrote:

:After 3 months of searching, baiting, and trapping, I think I found the
:source of these little buggers. I was disconnecting the gas line from the
:fireplace log set and noticed that a couple moths were in the fire box. I
:figured a couple found their way around the screen. Anyway, I turned off the
:gas for the pilot, and spread the lava gravel around to make it look a
:little neater. 20 minutes later there are about a dozen moths in the
:fireplace, behind the screen. I put a pest trap in there, and in less than
:30 minutes, it was loaded with moths. Could these moths be in the lava
:gravel? I thought they would only nest near a food source.
:
: I removed the log set and scooped out all the lava gravel onto cookie
:sheets, I am now "roasting" the lava gravel in the gas grill (500f for 20
:minutes). I also sealed up all the little gaps in the firebox to seal in
:any eggs/larva and vacuumed out all the dust and debris (and tossed the
:vacuum bag into a garbage bag and tossed it out).
:
:I was amazed to see that the moths were in the fireplace. I thought the
:heat would have killed them. Anyway, I think I found the source (fingers
:crossed). Has anyone heard of these moths nesting so far from a food
:source? And being able to survive in a fireplace that gets a lot of usage?
:They must be tough SOB'S!
:
:Les


Interesting. I get little fluttering moths every year and just about
this time they are a real problem. If it weren't for the fact that
there's also a mosquito problem, maybe it wouldn't bother me as much,
but I hate those pesky little moths. It's troublesome to try to
annihilate them. I think they are breeding and the larva are growing in
the house somewhere, but I don't have a clue where. I used to think they
were getting into foodstuffs. I used to notice larva in plastic bags of
food items, but haven't noticed that problem in recent times. I no
longer keep such things in plastic bags, but in bottles instead.

I have to think there's something in your fireplace that those moths'
larva are eating.