How to get rid of Indian meal moths | Non-toxic

How to get rid of Indian meal moths

If you have been finding small moths in your kitchen, Indian meal moths are almost certainly what you are dealing with. They are the most common pantry moth in North American homes. The little webby mess in your flour or dog food is their doing. Getting rid of them means clearing out the food they are breeding in and trapping the adults, all without spraying anything toxic around your groceries.

What Indian meal moths are

The Indian meal moth is a small moth with two-tone wings, coppery at the tips and pale gray near the body. The adults you see are harmless and short-lived. Their only job is to mate and lay eggs on dry food. The damage comes from the larvae, cream-colored caterpillars that feed inside flour, grains, cereal, nuts, dried fruit and pet food, spinning silky webbing as they go. Because they are the same insect as the pantry moth, the fix is the same. (More on the how and why: Pantry moth vs. clothing moth and How long does it take to get rid of pantry moths?)

The non-toxic way to get rid of them

Start where you have seen the moths and check the open bags and boxes of dry food nearby for webbing, clumping or tiny larvae. Throw out anything clearly infested. For a sealed staple that still looks clean but you are not sure about, freeze it for a week as a precaution, since a home freezer at 0°F kills any eggs and larvae you cannot see. Vacuum the shelves, getting into the corners and seams where larvae crawl off to pupate. Wipe the cleared surfaces with a mix of vinegar and water, then spray them with Six Feet Under, which will also drop any moth you catch flying. Hang Pantry Moth Traps to catch the adult males on their pheromone lure and stop them from mating. Once the shelves are dry, puff Dust to Dust in a thin, even layer into those cracks with the Insect Buster, so anything that returns meets the powder.

Clear out Indian meal moths for good

• Find the source: start where you have seen the moths and toss any dry goods with webbing, clumps or larvae.
• Freeze the maybes: freeze sealed staples that look clean but you are unsure about for a week as a precaution.
• Clean it out: vacuum the corners and seams, then wipe with a vinegar-and-water solution, followed by Six Feet Under.
• Trap the adults: hang Pantry Moth Traps to catch the males and stop new eggs.
• Treat and store: leave a thin layer of Dust to Dust in the cracks and move dry goods into airtight glass or metal.

Related: How to get rid of pantry moths in the kitchen and How to get rid of pantry moths in dog food.

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