Signs of Infestation

• Signs of a pantry moth infestation include finding a sticky webbing in a stored food product or finding small holes in packages of food. Another sign of an infestation is seeing adult moths fluttering weakly in your kitchen. Although pantry moths can be found anywhere in the house, they tend to stick around where the food is.
  
  

How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths

• Rid your home of pantry moths first by finding infested foods and throwing them away. The best thing to do would be to inspect all food items one by one, especially items bought in bulk or that have been opened and then not used for awhile. If in doubt, throw it away or place the item in a sealed plastic bag and wait to see if anything emerges. Be warned, however, that this method may take a while as a moth's life cycle takes between four and six weeks. Any food that has not shown activity in a month should be safe.
  
  Take all non-infested food from bags and open boxes and place them in tightly sealed containers such as mason jars with screw-top lids or plastic containers with tight snap-on lids.
  
  Thoroughly wash all cupboard shelves to get rid of any errant caterpillars, cocoons and food sources. Vacuum all cracks and crevices and clean behind appliances and anywhere crumbs and bits of food may be hiding.
  
  Traps can be set up wherever moths are seen. Traps attract the adult moth with a pheromone, which they cannot resist. They will fly to the traps and get stuck on the glue inside, where they cannot mate and reproduce. Moth traps can be found at many retail locations.
  
  Do not spray insecticides in cupboards or near food because of the risk of illness from eating contaminated food.
  
  

Preventing Moths from Returning

• Carefully inspect all food that is brought into the house.
  
  Bring your own bags to the store; moths tend to lay eggs in the seams of brown paper bags.
  
  Place highly susceptible foods such as spices in the refrigerator or freezer because moths cannot withstand the extreme temperature change.
  
  If possible, avoid buying large quantities of bulk food items that will take longer than two weeks to be used; package slowly-eaten foods in air-tight containers. Highly susceptible foods kept for six months or longer can develop severe infestations if not stored properly.
  .
  Clean up spills in cupboards promptly.