Stored Product and Textile Pest Control

Stored Food Pests ("Pantry Pests")

Larval stage of the Indian meal moth, one of the most common stored food pests in Georgia.

"Pantry pests" is a common term applied to insects that infest stored foods. Most of these insects are moths, beetles, or weevils. There are many, many species of pantry pests, but only a few are commonly encountered in homes.

Often, consumers don't know what bugs are infesting their food. Sometimes they call about "worms" in the cereal or "bugs" in the macaroni. Other times they complain about moths flying around the kitchen. That's okay. It's not very important that customers be able to identify the exact species of pests found in stored foods. That's our job.

You see, even though bugs that get into food vary in their morphology and habits, the customer's role in the treatment process is pretty much the same. Proper identification of the pest is important on the pest control technician's part, however, because treatment methods vary according to the exact insect specie and many of the pheromone lures used to control these pests are specie-specific.

Stored Food Pest Control

As with all of the work we do at Rid-A-Critter, we emphasize non-chemical methods as the primary focus pantry pest control. The most effective and environmentally responsible control of stored product pests requires that the following steps be taken:

• Inspecting and discarding infested products.
• Physically removing larvae and pupae from cabinets, when applicable.
• Cleaning cabinets to remove spilled food.
• Storing foods in pest-proof containers.
• In most cases, using sticky traps or pheromone lures to trap remaining adult insects.

In some cases, localized application of insecticides may also be helpful, especially when the infestation is severe.

Some of the more common pantry pests commonly encountered in Georgia include Indian meal moths, sawtoothed grain beetles, and red flour beetles.

Textile Pests

Adult tapestry moth

The term "textile pests" refers to various insects that eat clothing and other fabric items such as carpeting, upholstery, leather goods, and tapestry. Most textile pests are moths or beetles, and in most cases it's the larval stages of the insects that do the damage.

Most insects who eat fabrics consume only natural fibers that contain a complex protein called keratin, which is mainly found in the hair, fur, feathers, claws or nails, and epidermis of animals. They also will readily eat pet food or animal feed that contain these animal parts. Keratin is highly indigestible by most animals, but fabric pests have developed the ability to break it down into simpler proteins. In the wild, these insects would survive on the scraps left behind by carrion feeders.

Although keratin is their primary food, fabric pests also require other nutrients. In order to round out their diets, fabric eaters must also consume small amounts of food scraps or animal by-products such as sweat or urine. Most fabric pests could not survive on a diet of completely clean textiles; so one important factor in preventing insect damage to textiles is to keep them clean.

Textile Pest Control

As is the case with stored food pest control, fabric pest control is primarily non-chemical. In order for a fabric pest treatment to be most effective, all of the following steps should be taken:

• Inspect all stored clothes or textile products for signs of infestation.
• Wash, shampoo, dry clean, or thoroughly vacuum all textile products, as appropriate to the items.
• Remove any larval or pupal insects from closets, wooden trim, or other harborage areas.
• In most cases, use pheromone traps to quickly reduce adult insect populations.
• If needed, treat stationary textiles such as carpeting, as well as potential harborage areas for juvenile stages of insects, with a properly-labeled insecticide.

Some of the more common fabric pests found in Georgia include the webbing clothes moth, the casemaking clothes moth, and various species of carpet beetles.

If moths or beetles are eating your clothes, carpeting, or other textile products, please contact us for a no-obligation consultation.