How to get rid of moth flour in the kitchen

What does a pest look like and signs of its presence

Flour moth

One of the largest species of moth is the flour moth. The wingspan of its wings can reach up to 2-2.5 cm. Insect exhibits a silver-gray color at night. Products adults do not spoil, but only crawl on them to lay eggs. Where after a while there are moth larvaewhose size is up to 13 mm. They represent a real threat to food stocks: flour, flour products, cereals and even vegetables. From the nutrient material, the caterpillars build cocoons, in which they spend up to 5-6 weeks. Life expectancy winged moth about a month.

On a note!

It is not worth eating foods that are contaminated with flour moths, as they contain feces, chitinous scales and the remains of dead insects. All this can not only lead to problems with the immune system, but also cause a strong allergic reaction and intoxication of the body.

You can understand that a flour mole lives in the house according to the following criteria:

• The presence of butterflies sitting on the ceiling and walls;
• Larvae, as well as waste products of insects, can be found directly in the flour itself;
• Caterpillars crawling in the kitchen cupboard are another indication of the presence of a moth in the kitchen.

Ways of penetration

Even the cleanest mistress is not capable of insuring herself against a flour moth in the house.

1. A mole can get into the house the flour purchased on the market or in a store that was produced in violation of the norms or was stored in the wrong conditions.
2. Winged moths can enter the apartment through a window without a mosquito net or a vent.

On a note!

It is possible to minimize the probability of spreading the moth flour if the brought food is heated in the oven or the insect eggs are destroyed with the help of freezing.

How to get rid of the pest

Flour moth

Before you start the fight with the flour moth, you must:

• To conduct an audit in the kitchen. It is important to determine the source of the spread of the pest: flour or any other product with which the mole came in contact should be ruthlessly thrown away;
• Products that do not have obvious signs of the presence of a pest should be sorted out, heated in an oven (at a temperature not exceeding 60 degrees) or in a microwave oven;
• Products in surviving packages can be disinfected by putting them in the freezer for 2-3 days;
• Good lightning and spring-cleaning will help frighten away an uninvited “lodger”. The inner walls of kitchen cabinets must be washed with soap and soda solution and treated with vinegar;
• It is better to store flour, cereals and other bulk products in dry clean containers that have hermetic closures;
• Use folk remedies to combat flour moths.

Folk remedies

The question of how to get rid of the moth flour in the kitchen, worries every hostess who found an insect in their homes. For these purposes, you can apply folk remedies.

Garlic

In order not to start up the mole, it is necessary to put a couple of cloves of garlic in the flour container. Its specific smell is not to the taste of pests, therefore the female simply does not want to lay eggs in such a product.

Laundry soap

A great deterrent is soap. It is used to process the interior surfaces of kitchen furniture.It is enough to rub it on a coarse grater and mix it with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Treat the surface with this soapy mixture, then wash it off and wipe it thoroughly.

Vinegar

Vinegar will help get rid of moth eggs that are not noticed in the crevices. It should be used after processing the cabinet with a solution of household soap. For convenience, you can use a brush. Lemon juice can also be used for this purpose.

Folk remedies for moth flour

Lavender

To protect products from pests, you can use lavender. The smell of this plant mol does not tolerate, therefore, it will not settle where its branches lie. Wormwood, mint, tansy, bay leaf and chili have a similar effect.

Oranges

No less effective means of moth flour is orange, lemon or grapefruit peel. It is enough to expand it in the corners of the kitchen table or cabinet and the pest will not fly there. It is only necessary as the drying to replace the peel fresh.

Tobacco and camphor

Insects will not lay eggs if tobacco is put on the shelf with food. Camphor has a similar deterrent effect.

On a note!

All of the above methods have a strong smell, which only repels the flour moth. However, it is not capable of ridding the product of larvae and eggs.Moreover, having placed on the shelf a package with contaminated flour, from the caterpillars inside it, soon there will be adults who will get used to this flavor and will not be afraid of it anymore.

It is not advisable to use insecticidal agents to control the flour moth, since the food they have processed is dangerous to eat.

Traps

To catch the winged moths, scattered around the cabinet or the kitchen, you can use the glue trap. Principle food moth traps based on the use of female pheromones, which attracts males. And in the absence of males, the mole cannot breed.

Sections

Another one of the productive ways to destroy moles is sections. They come with or without smell. Most often, this tool is used to eliminate clothes moth, but many housewives use it in the kitchen.

Preventive measures

Flour moth

The following recommendations will help prevent the emergence and spread of the flour moth.

1. Regular airing is a guarantee of the absence of winged pests in the house.
2. You should not buy flour and cereals in damaged packages, as well as pack groceries for the future.
3. Products purchased at the store should be carefully examined for signs of infection. Use the method of warming up or freezing to destroy the larvae and eggs of moths.
4. Store flour, cereals and other grocery products in hermetically sealed containers.
5. Cover the vents and windows with a mosquito net.
6. Apply garlic, odorous herbs and other folk remedies, laying them on the shelves of cabinets.

Observing the rules of storage and preventive measures in your kitchen flour mole will not start.

Reviews

“The mole started up in flour 2 months ago, I noticed it almost immediately, and so she did not have time to infect other products. Threw a flour, lying next to buckwheat subjected moth frost, and now the store where I purchased it, I bypass it. ”

Victoria, Samara

“Having noticed butterflies in the kitchen, I killed them with Dichlorvos, but probably the mole laid eggs, from which new larvae appeared. Got rid of all bulk products (flour and cereals). While the mole does not bother. "

Olga, Perm

“I was looking for moths in flour and cereals, but it turned out that it started up in dried herbs. I reviewed everything again, threw out most of the products, and distributed the remaining cereals into hermetic jars.Took advantage of folk remedies for moth: I washed the cabinets with household soap, put garlic in them for prevention. Since then, the moth has not seen. "

Albina, Khabarovsk