This is the best way to protect yourself from food moths!

In the fight against food moths!

Larissa

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As soon as it gets warmer, more insects and bugs are on the move again. One in particular can become an absolute pain in the neck in your own four walls: the food moth. Does this mean nothing to you? Then you've been lucky so far and haven't been plagued by the pest or you just haven't noticed it yet. For others, the very thought of food moths makes the skin crawl. Today we will show you how to recognise the little critters, how to combat them and, above all, how to keep them away from your kitchen. |html}}

Detect and fight food moths

Food moths are really small. They are white-brownish and when they sit on surfaces, they usually just look like a small dark line. These moths feed and reproduce through our food. That is, they eat their way through food and lay eggs in it. The excrement of the moth contaminates the food and can lead to skin diseases, allergies or gastrointestinal illnesses when eaten. But how do food moths come to nest in our homes? Let's be clear: it has nothing to do with hygiene. Most of the time, you buy the moths with your food. This happens especially with flour, rice, pasta, spices, tea, but also nuts or chocolate. Everything that is dry and not hermetically sealed remains susceptible to the pests. The food you buy may already have eggs or larvae on it, and you will bring them home with you. Often, however, a moth simply flies through an open window when airing the house. If it is not discovered and removed immediately, the reproduction process begins quickly.

If several of the moths are buzzing around in your kitchen or pantry, then it is infested. If you notice only one insect or discover sticky webs in food, you should remain vigilant and continue to observe what is happening. However, if it is clear that you have a food moth infestation in your home, you should take action quickly. Firstly, you should check all food for larvae or webs and dispose of them accordingly. You should clean the infested cupboards or places with vinegar water. To be sure that you hit every crack and corner, you can also treat these places with a hot hair dryer. This will destroy all the eggs. If the infestation is already very extreme, you can also resort to biological control with ichneumon wasps. These are the natural enemies and eat the moth eggs. You can buy the wasps online. As soon as there are no more moth eggs, the ichneumon wasps disappear. You can also hang moth traps. You can buy them at the drugstore and they are easy to attach to surfaces. There are also different chemical options - but we recommend the other options for now.

How to prevent the uninvited guests

So what can you do to protect yourself from these annoying and unhealthy vermin? First of all, it is advisable to check endangered foodstuffs for eggs, larvae, webs or small holes in the packaging when shopping. In the best case, this will prevent you from buying the animals directly. In addition, you should be a little more vigilant in the kitchen and pantry and remove any animals floating around directly. Of course, you can also prevent vermin from entering your home with fly screens.

But even more important is the following: Put your food in storage jars and tins after shopping. Food moths can easily eat their way through plastic or cardboard packaging. This is not so easy with jars or other airtight containers. Here, the food is safe and cannot fall victim to a moth. Find the right storage containers right here and equip your kitchen with them.