Insect Control Services: Moths
Frequently encountered Stored Product Pests include the Indian Meal Moth, Cigarette Beetle, Red and Confused Flour Beetle and Sawtoothed Grain Beetle.
Background: Moths
Moths and Beetles prefer to nest wherever there is access to food and light. This includes many people’s homes, gaining entry in the warmer months through open windows and doors, they can quickly begin nesting and laying eggs. While there are many species in our area, treatments are typically the same.
Indian Meal Moths
The Indian Meal Moth grows to be about 1/2 of an inch, they are cream coloured with a brown head. Infestations in packaged products start with small numbers, and the longer the product is kept without use, the larger the population grows. Indian meal moths infest most milled or ground cereals such as flour and cornmeal and starchy processed products such as crackers, cake mixes, pasta and dog food.
Cigarette Beetles
Larvae are tiny, white, curved, and covered with infested material, often causing them to look like tiny lumps of the stored product. They are difficult to detect unless the product is dumped and sifted. These beetles are commonly found in spices such as paprika, ground pepper and ginger, in milled cereals, flour, cornmeal, dry dog food, cosmetics, drugs, as well as some human poisons, pyrethrum dusts and dried flowers.