In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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December 3, 2007

Those pesky food moths

Moths in the pantry have been on many readers’ minds - and in their flour, cereal and pasta - this fall.

I’ve been there. I won't see evidence of food moths for ages, then suddenly one day I'll walk in the kitchen one morning and find tiny brown moths are zooming around, flitting from cupboard to cupboard. I’ll hunt far and wide for their food of choice, and often they simply elude me. One year I cleaned out everything. Or so I thought. After I’d tossed the pasta, bags of beans, corn meal, flour, anything I thought they’d like, I still had moths. I finally found them gorging on jello!

Carmichael reader Carolyn Loveridge has this advice: “There are some easy solutions to the problem of little moths that seem to float around in the pantry. If you put all grain products into your freezer for 48 hours when you bring them home from the store, you will eliminate the eggs that become larva. For those moths that are already flying around, buy “The Pantry Pest Trap” by Safer. I keep a trap in my cold cereal cupboard and don’t worry about freezing the cereal. Using these two strategies have eliminated the moth headache."

Once you see the moths, you can be sure the little fellows have finished their feeding frenzy---they eat our baking supplies in their larvae stage. Sacramento Master Gardener Carol Hunter says the moths common in this area include the Indian meal moth, brown house moth and Mediterranean flour moth.

In a recent "Garden Detective" answer, she wrote, “The larvae spin webs and web together the stored products in which they feed and develop. Mature larvae also may leave the food source and crawl about the cupboard, walls and ceilings. The brown house moth eats not only foodstuffs but also feeds on carpets, paper, furs and insects.

"Proper sanitation is the primary technique for avoiding these pests. Do not purchase quantities of flour, dried pet food or cake mix that cannot be used in a reasonable amount of time. Products stored longer than six months often are sources of infestation. When infestations do occur, locate the source and get rid of it immediately.”

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