Nothing makes you want to eat out or order a pizza more than finding pantry moths in your cabinets, and unfortunately, this is more common than many Denver homeowners might think. One of the most common pantry pests, Indian meal moths, can be a big nuisance for local residents.
Here’s what you should know about identifying these pantry moths, how they get into your home, how to prevent them, and the best way to get rid of them.
What Do Pantry Moths In Denver Look Like?
Growing close to ½ inch in length, Indian meal moths have oval-shaped bodies that are elongated and gray wings with rusty, brown coloring on the bottom half.
Even if you don’t see them up close, you can also identify these pantry moths by the signature zigzag pattern that they fly in while they’re inside your home.
When they’re larvae, Indian meal moths tend to be cream-colored with a yellow or pink tint on their bodies and dark brown heads.
How Do Indian Meal Moths Get Into Denver Homes?
You may be able to recognize Indian meal moths, but how do they manage to get into your Denver home, and why? The easiest way for pantry moths to get into your home is through groceries or other food products that you bought from the store that already contained Indian meal moth larvae.
While it’s less common, another way for Indian meal moths to get into your home is by flying through open gaps, windows, and other holes that they find along your home’s exterior. These moths are usually small enough to avoid detection, and once they’ve flown into your home, they’ll start looking for a food source to lay their eggs and larvae inside.
Indian meal moths enter your home because their diet consists of stored foods, like grains, powdered milk, chocolate, dog food, pasta, rice, and other dry foods. They also like to lay their eggs in dry food so that their larvae have a food source. Any place containing these foods, like warehouses, grocery stores, and even Denver homes, can be at risk for an infestation of Indian meal moths and other pantry pests.
Effective Pantry Moth Prevention Tips For Denver Homes
Once they make it into your home and start laying their eggs in your food, Indian meal moths aren’t always easy to get rid of – but here are some effective prevention tips for keeping pantry moths away from your cupboards and Denver home in the first place, such as:
- Make sure you’re properly storing your food. Regularly packaged food isn’t always safe from pantry moths, so you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping your food in sealed glass or plastic containers. Indian meal moths only need the tiniest of gaps or cracks to get inside packaging, so double-check that these containers are tightly sealed.
- Seal holes in your home. If you’ve got open windows, gaps under doorways, or other cracks in your foundation or walls, pantry moths could use these as an opening to get inside. Be sure to use caulk or another sealant to close up any gaps, replace ripped or torn window screens if you have any, and install door sweeps on exterior doors.
- Inspect any food you bring in. The easiest way for pantry moths to get in is by arriving in packages or boxes you get from the grocery store. When you bring food products into your home, you’ll want to look for tears or holes in packages and check for excess clumping or residue. Dried plants and flower arrangements can even house pantry moths, so ensure you check those items as well.
The Trick To Total Pantry Pest Control In Denver
While it can be concerning to discover a pantry moth infestation in your Denver home, there is one way to make sure you permanently rid these pests from your home, and that’s with Absolute Pest Control. We’ve been serving the Denver area and surrounding counties with reliable home pest control and commercial pest management for more than three decades, and that includes pantry moth infestations.
These pests may be tricky to deal with, but we’ve got effective, reliable treatments for total pantry pest control in Denver. If you’ve discovered a pantry moth problem in your Denver home, there’s only one thing to do – call us today at Absolute Pest Control to learn more about our total pantry pest control.
I have used absolute pest control for over 10 years. They are reliable, professional, polite, honest and experts in their work. Every interaction I've had with them has been positive. I've had them treat 4 different houses through the years and have never had a bad experience.