Imagine going into your kitchen for a snack, opening the pantry, and finding much of your food has been infested with little insects. If that doesn’t make your skin crawl, it should at least bother you that the food you have purchased is now ruined. This could be a reality if you don’t take the proper precautions, and pantry pests infest your kitchen.
Pantry pests consist of a variety of different insects that lay their eggs on dried food containers. Once those eggs hatch, the larvae proceed to eat that food. To make matters worse, infestations of these pests can grow quite rapidly. That’s why you should know how to prevent pantry pests from ever getting inside your Roseville home, and what to do should you find yourself dealing with a pantry pest infestation.
Identifying Common Pantry Pests
When it comes to pantry pests, there are several different insects that could threaten your home. These include weevils, moths, and beetles.
- Weevils: are brown in color and grow to be about 1/10th of an inch long. They have six legs and antennae on their oval-shaped bodies.
- Moths: come in a variety of shapes and colors. However, the moths you will most likely find in your pantry grow to be 5/8th of an inch long and are reddish-brown or gray in color. They have six legs, antennae, and wings.
- Beetles: also vary in size and color. They can grow to 1/16th of an inch and are usually brown, white, yellow, and gray in color. They have round bodies, six legs, and antennae.
While there are a variety of pantry pests, the best way to identify them in your home is by seeing them in your pantry or dried food boxes. Foods that pantry pests particularly enjoy are whole grains, pasta, cereal, flour, cornmeal, dried fruits, spices, cake mixes, chocolates, tobacco, and pet food.
How Panty Pest Infestations Occur
More often than not, pantry pest infestations begin at the food processing plant before you’ve even purchased the food. Then, people will unknowingly buy contaminated food packages and introduce them to their cupboards when they return home. Once, in the pantry, these infestations can then spread to other dried goods, exacerbating the problem.
Pantry pests can also enter homes through cracks and holes around windows and door frames. They may also enter open windows and doors without screens in them, and then find their way into your kitchen.
Pantry Pest Prevention Tips
Pantry pest prevention begins at the food purchasing stage. However, there are some other tips you can utilize to cut down on the odds of having a pantry pest infestation in your home.
These include:
- Do not purchase any dry food products with rips or tears in the packaging
- Avoid buying dry food in bulk
- Store all dry food in tight-sealing glass or plastic containers rather than its original packaging
- Store pet food in metal containers with tight-sealing lids
- Install weather stripping around windows and exterior doors
- Install screens in windows and exterior doors
- Replace outside lights that attract pantry pests with less attractive yellow or LED lights
For More Information on Pantry Pests
If you have any further questions about pantry pest prevention, or if you are currently dealing with a pantry pest infestation, contact the local pest professionals here at Neighborly Pest Management. Not only will we eliminate any pantry pest infestation with which you are currently experiencing, but we will also work with you to take the proper precautions to prevent any future infestations. Don’t waste your money by feeding these invasive pests, call us today.