Ever open up a box of pasta, a bag of rice, or some baking flour and find that some little beetle-like insects are having a party without you? Flour beetles, Mealworms, grain beetles, rice weevils, Indian meal moths, and drugstore beetles are a few of the “pantry pests” you purchase from the grocery store and bring home. That’s right, during the packaging process of some pantry food items, adults eggs or larva can find their way into some of the products you purchase. When they’re safe and sound in your home, they’ll go to town eating and reproducing in some of the most common household pantry items.
Here’s a list of some of the most common food items pantry pests are found in:
Rice
Pasta
Oats or oatmeal
Rice cakes
Flour
Cereal
Some spices
Grits
Crackers
Dog and cat food/treats
Bird seeds (mainly find moths here)
Some legumes
What do you do?
The most important part of the control process is to locate the source. The food item the pest entered your home in will likely be the most heavily infested. We recommend emptying the entire pantry and sorting through all the items you may have listed above. Once you find the source, throw it in the garbage and remove the garbage from the home. When you find what you believe to be the source, don’t stop there. Keep looking through all your food items as these pests may have infested other things in your pantry. Now that your pantry is empty, vacuum out any pests that may be crawling around. Make sure to empty out your vacuum and remove the contents from your home after. Then sanitize the storage area with your preferred cleaning solution. Lastly, we highly encourage all our customers to repackage all of the items listed above in airtight hard plastic containers. I want to emphasize the importance of the containers being composed of hard plastic and have airtight lids with rubber seals. The reason is these pests are able to chew through plastic bags and cardboard. If you’re storing your food in hard plastic, you’ll be isolating and potential infestations to one container. The repackaging also grants you the opportunity to see if what you just brought home has anything in it.
You’re now pantry pest-free and probably have a Pinterest worthy pantry with matching hard plastic airtight containers for all your grains and things. Take it up a level and get yourself a label maker because why not? Typically we can coach customers on how to remedy this issue using the information above but if you don’t have the time, patience, or lacking the detective skills, let us know. We’ll come out and sort through your pantry for you!
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To get rid of pantry pests, call 305-901-6457 today!
I had an emergency situation with spiders in my car in the middle of the day. After playing phone tag, being put on hold, and turned down by a few major pest control companies that don’t service cars… Chad and his team happily came out and resolved the issue within an hour.– Gourma L.
I work on a yacht, which makes dealing with pests a bit more tricky. We have delicate surfaces that we deal with, a bacteria biome in our tanks, and of course, many people with chemical sensitivities. Chad came out and helped us not only treat our fruit fly infestation, but he gave us many tips to prevent other kind of pest outbreaks.– Walkyria W.
Being that we are baby and furbaby friendly, we looked for a pest control company who was trusted and used great (organic) products. The ants are gone and my mom and dad are so thankful! Thank you Daniel, Chad, and Alyssa for outstanding customer service and for helping my parents out!– Jess I.
