On the other hand, I found a "Kitchen Moth" and I executed it !!

[Breeze54]

With a vengeance!! :P

:evilgrin:

[DeepBlueC]

1. those little bastards

either got into some bulk grains inside a spring top canning jar with a rubber seal or else they came in there from the store, but my cleaning lady discovered this jar and it looked like a science project ... a terrarium or something...mossy webby thing at the top of the jar above the now unrecognizable grain(I think it was toasted corn kernels originally) and larvae wriggling and a couple of adults flying in this jar. I brought it outside and applied RAID. Now I am afraid they may be elsewhere. HOw do you stop an invasion?

[boilerbabe]

2. Is this your first day outside,or is there some sort of nature overrun going on here? heee n/t

[Rising Phoenix]

3. for real! we are overrun with the damn things

threw out all dry food, bleached the whole damn kitchen, I think the fuckers are hiding somewhere ingenius......I can not find the source........grr.....smart little bastards......we have those little traps and that catches a bunch but I need the source.......any suggestions?

[HopeHoops]

4. You mean an Indian Meal Moth?

Those things can stay dormant in the larval stage for YEARS! I've opened boxes that I know have been sealed for several years and WHAM - there's a moth a few hours later. The only way to get rid of them is immediate squashing and pheromone traps. They are evil.

[Rising Phoenix]

5. damn

[HopeHoops]

6. I forgot one VERY important remedy for meal moths...

THE VACUUM CLEANER! It works for fruit flies too. If you put the extension wand on the hose you can suck the fuckers off the ceiling before they can fly. Without the extension, you can catch them in the air. The larva like to build their little silk pouches in the ceiling/wall edge and that long flat vacuum attachment is good for sucking those out.

Keep ALL grains in some kind of sealed container. The larva can EAT THROUGH PLASTIC BAGS!!! Peanuts are a favorite food. Do NOT let one escape. Hunt it down if it means using a shotgun or breaking half of the dishes in the house. Bug bombs are apparently worthless against them (but I wouldn't use one anyway). Nuclear weapons should not be ruled out.

I think that's about it.

[Rising Phoenix]

7. thank you

I'll get right on that....die fuckers! as you can see these little pests are making me bitter. hehe

[HopeHoops]

8. We battled them for YEARS!

Actually, I just found one about two weeks ago. As usual, it was after opening a box that had been sealed for years. They have a distinctive posture when they are on a wall - wings at about 40 degrees off the surface - and they leave a specific color of gray stain when you squash them. You have to clean that off immediately or it becomes permanent.

One of the hermit crab treats has another kind of moth larva in it (several containers have had them). They don't bother the crabs and don't seem to bother anything else and they die off quickly. They're a little smaller. Every once in a while one gets out and I see "meal moth" - but they fly differently and lay flat when they are on a wall. It also helps that they are smaller. I leave those alone.

[Rising Phoenix]

10. I have gotten good at finding them

and I know that gray smudge well.......we are planning to paint the ceiling in a few months when hopefully we are rid of them.....years....eeek........off to vacum the ceiling.........:woohoo:

[HopeHoops]

12. Put down a coat of Kills or something - paint doesn't stick to the smudges.

Those things are a pain in the ass even AFTER you kill them!

[Rising Phoenix]

14. thanks again.....will do

I hate to think of the hell you must have gone thru with these things to have obtained all this knowledge....

[HopeHoops]

15. I sincerely hope you never find out.

The fuckers got into a bag of rice in New Hampshire 15 years ago and I'm STILL finding them when I open boxes - I think some of the larva have been dormant for that long. They are a plague!

[Rising Phoenix]

16. eeewwwww

I got rid of all the paper laying around too....they seem to like hanging around them......told my mom not to get any more grocery bags.....not only do they come into the house in the brown paper bags......it is a waste. Perfect excuse to switch to bringing our own bags........

[latebloomer]

9. My teenage son likes the little creatures

He tries to stop me from killing them.

[Rising Phoenix]

11. lol

crazy whacky kids.....

[sammythecat]

13. I like that

He's a softie. :)

I usually try to catch things like that and toss 'em outside, but...sometimes it's just they're time to die.

[applegrove]

17. Do you have birdseed in your kitchen. That could be where the moths are coming from.

My mom had kitchen moths in her kitchen for decades. She's take everything out of the shelves and clean then put everything back (including the box of birdseed). The moths always returned. Just an FYI.

[Rising Phoenix]

18. no, thanks though

we threw out anything we thought could be infected except for her almonds which are now in rubbermaid