Food moth is a serious pest in the kitchen. It spoils food and makes them unusable. Getting rid of moles is very difficult, but really with the help of household or folk remedies.
Contents
- Where does the food moth come from, how it looks, how it feeds, how much it lives?
- Does the food moth eat clothes and what kind?
- Mole in the kitchen: how to find the
- socket How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen in products:
- remedies How to remove food and fruit moth in the kitchen by folk remedies?
- How to get rid of food moths forever?
- How to store dried fruits and cereals so that the moth does not start?
- Video: "Fighting the food moth: 4 ways"
Where does the food moth come from, what it looks like, how it feeds, how much does it live?
Some people are very familiar with such an insect as the food moth. Such a mole can be of different sizes and visually it resembles a small butterfly.
IMPORTANT: Although most moths look the same, they have their own characteristics, depending on the species.
Whatever type of moth does not start in your house, it requires mandatory removal. Simple aerosols here will not help. First of all, food may suffer from this( if you make large stocks).Any poisons are also forbidden( their remnants can then be mixed with food).
Learn larvae and caterpillars of food moths very easily - they are all "on the same face."Their length, as a rule, does not exceed one and a half centimeters . Color of caterpillars white , milky, yellow, beige( light).Less common are pink caterpillars.
In appearance the caterpillar is absolutely smooth , without villi and antennae. Caterpillars actively eat groceries, where, in fact, their nest is located. They need active nutrition for growth and development. Most often, caterpillars do not seek to "attract attention" and hide in grocery, but before pupation( turning into a butterfly) they often creep out on walls and any surfaces.
It is important to know that the food moth multiplies very fast. If the insect is favored by the atmosphere( humidity, temperature), it immediately lays eggs.
The egg moth can be laid every six weeks( one to one and a half hundred eggs).Butterfly tries to lay eggs where they can eat and survive - as human food .Room temperature of 20-25 degrees favorably affects the eggs of moths and contributes to their speedy development.
It's interesting to know that the caterpillar moth destroys the grocery stocks. Butterfly does not eat at all. She does not have a completely digestive system. The adult mole does not live more than a month( a maximum of one and a half).
Delayed larvae eat literally anything they can meet:
- Any cereals: millet, semolina, buckwheat, wheat
- Cereals: oatmeal, bran, seeds
- Bread , biscuits, flour, crackers
- Whole grains
- Cocoa, spices ( not sharp)
- Sugar
- Any nuts : walnuts, peanuts, almonds
- Dried fruits : dried apricots, prunes, figs, raisins
Each kind of food moth has its own food preferences , butSurvival To eat everything( in apartments often happens that way).If the house gets a very large number of moths, then the first time withdraw it completely - very difficult .
The bad thing is that in addition to the fact that larva feeds on human products, it braids the area around itself with a cocoon. As a result, food is covered with a thin silk web and looks like lumps. If the nest is planted in nuts, the mole forms small nests on their surface.
IMPORTANT: The food moth comes into the house not from neighbors, but also not from the street. The person himself brings insect larvae with substandard groats and purchases from the store( often the mass producer does not carefully check their shops, barns for the existence of moths).The harm of food moth is huge. It spoils foods and makes them impossible to eat.
Food moth is eating clothes and what?
The food moth is capable of destroying 's huge human food reserves , but this insect does not touch clothing. Such a butterfly is not dangerous for the wardrobe. However, do not relax, because together with the food moth can live and moth .This moth is visually very similar to a butterfly.
Often in the struggle to eliminate food moths, a person does not pay attention to the clothes. The food moth also does not put larvae in clothes, and larvae do not harm fur, sheepskin, cotton and other types of fabric.
Mole in the kitchen: how to find the
socket In order to deduce a mole, first of all, should find its socket. Of course, this insect is not as unpleasant as a cockroach, but it can bring a lot of damage.
The moth nest is where the maximum number of butterfly caterpillars is concentrated. Visually the socket , if formed in a groat or flour, resembles lumps and pellets. Pieces of cereals or groceries are wrapped in silk webs. There are larvae between lumps. The walls and surface of the crockery, the are studded with white caterpillars.
Notice where exactly you meet the mole most often:
- On the shelves where the cereals are stored
- In the
- breadbasket In the spice box
- In a sugar bag, in a bag with flour and so on
If you find the socket in the grocery store , carefully check each package of cereals and pasta. But the best thing is - to throw out absolutely all stocks of , in order to precisely lime the insect. Even one or two larvae can contribute to the multiplication of moths in the future.
How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen in products:
remedies The moth should be killed already when you find a nest of larvae or caterpillars. Of course, the butterflies should also be killed, because they are able to save about a hundred eggs. Only integrated insect removal is able to rid you completely of the problem.
The mole should be destroyed starting from the socket:
- If a socket is found in the food, it is necessary to remove all products from the drawer, cabinet, curbstones in .Do not try to leave something, an egg or a larva can be deposited in any product.
- If you are trying to preserve visually undamaged products, they need to either warm in the oven ( no more than 60 degrees for about half an hour) or freeze overnight .So you save the product and completely kill the insect.
- Completely free furniture from products. Treat the lockers with special aerosols from moths. Leave the furniture in this condition for several days( at this time you can scrape the products).After this, thoroughly wash the cabinets with a soapy solution of .Return the processed products to the place.
- You can get rid of moth butterflies using special adhesive tapes. The insect gets on the tape and is no longer able to move, so it means to live. In addition, such a tape can be impregnated with poison.
If you process furniture chemically, try to avoid even the slightest ingress of food. Otherwise, you can get the strongest poisoning.
How to remove food and fruit moth in the kitchen by folk remedies?
If you do not want to use chemicals in order to lime a mole, you should use folk methods. In progress:
- Plants with strong aroma
- Dried herbs
- Fruits: fresh and dry
- Essential oil
- Technical means
Each of the listed products is effective in its own way. They are good because they perfectly fit into the atmosphere of an ordinary city apartment. But the minus of each means is that it is able to exert an effect of different strength, sometimes, weak.
Household products from moths:
- Sections from moths. These are special agents that are filled with substances that are favored by moths, but also poisonous to it. This section looks like a hook, which is convenient to hang in any furniture. Such a tool is not mass produced, it can rarely be found on sale.
- Lime mole will help the unfavorable atmosphere for its reproduction. For example, a food moth is afraid of bright light( that's why it multiplies inside cabinets) or humidity. As a preventive measure, you can periodically open the doors in the cabinets or take out the products "to be ventilated" on the balcony. Larvae are not able to live in such conditions and die underdeveloped.
- Special tablets from moths will also help. Buy them can be in the department of household chemicals. The principle of action is simple: you put a poisonous tablet in a cabinet that emits an unpleasant smell and a substance that causes the insect to die.
Folk remedies for food moths - plants:
- Lavender - is a popular folk remedy, tested for centuries. The strong smell of grass and inflorescence "scares off" the mole and "drives" it away from the place where you place the beam.
- Tansy, wormwood - also effectively repels moths with a strong fragrance. Plus tansy is that along with the moth, other insects are also displayed: ants, spiders, beetles
- Rosemary, dill - fragrant herb that can "drive away" the moth. Minus the rosemary is that it quickly loses a strong odor. The grass must constantly change, every few days.
- Geranium - moth does not like the smell of geranium, but only fresh leaves or flowers
Other improvised moth-saving remedies:
- Orange cake - is a good remedy that is able to harass the food moth. It is worth knowing that the effectiveness of a fresh crust. Therefore, it is necessary as often as possible to put an aromatic crust of citrus.
- Essential Oil - has a strong aroma that the mole simply can not stand. It is best to use the oil of patchouli, lemon grass, rosemary or fir.
- Vinegar - is an effective and radical way to fight the moth. This tool is able to remove the mole from the kitchen, since the mole is really "afraid" of it.
- Soap economic - such a tool acts on the principle of household tablets from moths and it can "scare off" an insect.
- Chestnut - for this purpose chestnut fruits harvested in September and October should be spread out throughout the furniture in the kitchen.
How to get rid of food moths forever?
Get rid of food moth will help only a thorough check of all the products of that you bring into the house, as well as Moth Prevention .If you buy cereals in a store or supermarket, do not be lazy to carefully consider the packaging. Even under the layer of polyethylene, you can see corpses of moths or larvae.
TIP: Acquire only quality grocery of well-known manufacturers. As a rule, such products differ not only in taste but also in quality.
Regularly about see your "bins" , sort out the groats, air the cabinets. It is useful to wash furniture outside and inside once a month with a solution of laundry soap with vinegar.
How to store dried fruits and cereals so that the moth does not start?
It is best to buy groceries in small quantities : by kilogram and immediately eat it. So you will not give the insect a chance to spread and harm your food.
Store cereal grains , grains, corn and flour in plastic containers with hermetic covers or glass jars.