Recognize flour moths correctly, fight and prevent them effectively

Flour moths have appeared to some housewives as the "eighth biblical plague", but they are quite easy to drive out of the house and to keep out of the house - if you know how to do it. What you can read in the following lines:

Identify flour moths

The flour moth, scientifically named Ephestia kuehniella, lives among us and sometimes with us, but it's not the food moth that annoys us most. The cacao moth (Ephestia elutella), the mealworm (Pyralis farinalis) and the dried fruit moth (Plodia interpunctella), which is of the greatest economic importance as a storage pest in Central Europe is attributed.

The four pesky creatures look pretty much alike:

• dried fruit moth
• flour moth
• cocoa moth
• mealworm

All a little darker and a little patterned at the top, the dried fruit moth just looks a little browner than the silvery-grey flour moth and the almost identical cacao moth, which is just over half the size, and the flour borer shows a tinge of brownish-yellowish.

However, the exact name of "the critter" doesn't really need to interest you, because the four small insects are also in the species quite similar to the approximation of the human household and do much the same damage to our supplies (and our nerves). to:

The moths sometimes fly in through open kitchen windows because of artificial light sources are attracted and come to our household much more often because they are bought in the form of eggs. In three to four days, caterpillars crawl out of these eggs, which cause the real trouble, because they come simply already extremely hungry for the world and this hunger is satisfied with almost everything that is in the pantry gives.

Theoretically, each of these little animals has its special ones preferences:

• Dried fruit moth caterpillars are said to prefer to eat rice, corn, flour, pasta, pastries, spices, nuts, dried fruit, instant soups and chocolate
• The caterpillars of the flour moth are said to feed mainly on flour and should be able to cope well with this bread-without-water diet in an emergency
• But cereals, pasta and dry vegetables such as cherimoya, pigeon peas, star apples and mango should not be spurned either
• The cacao moth is said to favor flour, vegetables, and fruits, but once in a pantry, any favourites? contaminate food
• The flour moth is said to specialize in grains and grain products, but also eat dried plant parts such as clover and lucerne, dead insects and perhaps mold

An almost 100-year-old article in the journal of the Vienna Entomologists' Association therefore also lists a completely different combination of moths' favorite foods:

• The dried fruit moth should biscuits, bread, peanuts, dried fruit, fig coffee, dried fruit, cereal grains, rose hips, cocoa beans, Chestnuts, corn kernels, almond kernels, flour, quinces, beet pulp, seeds, chocolate, juniper berries and chicory eat
• The flour moth Baked goods, dried fruit, dried fruit, pearl barley, semolina, groats, rotten wood, bran, corn kernels, flour, wafers, dried mushrooms, peat, wheat flour
• The cocoa moth was fed on animal and vegetable waste, bread, dried vegetables, eatables, dried figs and fruits, Cereal grains, dry wood and wood waste, dry insects, rice grains, chocolate, dry tobacco caught
• The mealworm has been shown to have eaten vegetable waste, dry fruit, grain, groats, hay, bran, cork, flour, straw, and candy

In summary, this is also a list of the contents of a pantry or pantry that was common at the time. its moth-accessible parts - you'd probably be better off assuming that hunger will drive it in when in doubt, or Don't count on any poorly protected food being disliked by the food moths.

save supplies

Once the infestation has been identified, it's time to "go to the store shelf" to pack all inadequately protected food in such a way that it will be protected against moth infestation in the future. Any food packaged in paper, cardboard, thin plastic or thin plastic film is inadequately protected because all of that is enough odor molecules for a moth larva to pass through and is therefore easily gnawed through by the food moth larvae on the way to the coveted Food.

When a person with a clean and tidy pantry realizes for the first time that groceries are not always packaged like this in retail are sold that they are protected from all environmental emissions - this is regularly a shock because it turns the entire stockpiling upside down puts. But it is so; if everything in the entire chain from “food production to consumer” were sensibly regulated, we would use flour with nutritionally valuable ingredients and not the ground leftovers of the grinding process, and our world would not "go under in plastic bag leftovers" either Example.

So clean and tidy is not enough, supplies are only in well-closing jars or boxes made of thick plastic from contamination with insect eggs, fungal spores, viruses or other airborne micro-life protected. Now not everything has to be protected, a cabbage keeps e.g. B. due to its ingredients, the microbes themselves from eating. But the finer the particles that form a common form of edible or processed food, the easier it is for the microorganisms to bite. Any "powder stuff", whether from grain (flour, muesli, rice, noodles), plants (sugar, bouillon powder, spices), fruits (cocoa, dried fruit, teas) should always be repacked in glasses or plastic boxes after purchase become; and fruit, bread and biscuits are also better not left lying around in open bowls for constant service.

When repacking, you can best check which foods are infested. Sometimes you see it, gray webs or clumps in the bag should lead to direct disposal of cent items. In the case of possibly/probably affected supplies, which may also be really expensive (fine coffee, rare spices), that is weigh it: moth eggs become “history” if you freeze these supplies for half an hour or heat them above 60°C can. No problem for people unconstrained by their non-toxic, natural environment; Anyone who is at war with many natural phenomena due to an upbringing that is far removed from nature should perhaps better part with these supplies, because appetite develops in the head.

When all supplies have been stowed away or disposed of in a moth-proof manner, the shelves are cleaned once. You don't need any particularly harsh agents for this, which do not bring any additional profit here, but simply detergent solution and water for wiping afterwards.

Effectively combat flour moths

Fighting flour moths effectively does not mean - you guessed it - going through the kitchen with lethal injection. You're allowed to do this, of course, but it's not a particularly successful approach to combating flour moths. People who don't have nerve agents near them or near those who haven't fully developed sensitive nervous systems of their children need ways to deal with them in a relaxed manner anyway the problem.

Against this background, the spray can for several reasons not recommended become:

• Chemicals that safely kill moths are not exactly healthy or even dangerous for humans
• Insecticides are man-made/recompiled chemicals
• Which are often developed/composed by those responsible without sufficiently considering the connections and effects
• This approach has already proven to be a dangerous game in many areas
• In addition to damaging other creatures, the main problem with insects is the rapid development of resistance
• Food moths are already resistant to a large proportion of the active ingredients used against them
• With each use of pesticides, new resistances are "bred", which exacerbates the problem

Incidentally, lethal injection is also not an effective way of dealing with the moth larvae. It only kills the so-called imagines, the adult developmental forms of the moth. It's hardly worth killing them, they only live for a very short time anyway and don't eat any more. Adding poison that ends up in the bronchial tubes of the family and possibly in the food is certainly not worth it. If you want to destroy the imagines, the good old fly swatter helps, with which the moths, which fly very slowly, are great to catch.

The larvae of food moths (and clothes moths) can be destroyed very easily with the help of their natural enemies. In the house, the use of parasitic wasps, which also live outdoors in nature on moth eggs, is a good idea. but when applied in space after completing their mission, they fall into doubt and become imperceptible dust decay. These tiny little parasitic wasps can be bought on tablets, they can smell moth eggs very well, look for them and destroy them. They do this in the last little crack and crevice, for organisms of 0.3 mm size there are no barriers in our households.

However, the cards with the parasitic wasps really have to be spread out wherever the Moths find something to eat, and exactly in the way prescribed in the instructions and duration. The small and harmless micro-insects called Trichogramma evanescens are almost invisible to the naked eye, but they work all the more diligently and reliably. When the last moth egg has been destroyed, they fly out or die (a parasitic wasp deployment brings a maximum of one additional gram of dust - in the entire apartment).

In the entire apartment because it is usually not enough to lay out the cardboard cards with the parasitic wasps in the kitchen. But there's also the bird seed supply and the kibble for pets, both favorite foods for food moths and candidates for their own card; and also door wreaths made of dried plant material, grain pillows, dried flower bouquets, etc. should be considered.

Prevent flour moth infestation

You can prevent the next flour moth infestation if you ensure that the food that has now been packaged moth-proof continues to be packaged moth-proof. This attention alone is usually enough, and the next flour moth infestation can only be observed when the old habits relapse.

If it's different, there's a bit of detective work to be done because other parts of the household obviously need to be reorganized as well. Then also think about the surroundings of the terrariums and aquariums, the rubbish bin and the adjoining rooms dark, damp corners, but in which people are constantly snacking at the parties (= food scattered become).

But even if you consume several generations of parasitic wasps - with this powerful fighters in the rear you can in the summer heat even the kitchen window stay open because the moths lost their terror once and for all have. Maybe you put a glass of anti-moth scent by the window (laurel, lavender, cloves, cedarwood, peppermint, patchouli and Thuja are supposed to deter food moths), then you don't even need the help of the until the next "living shopping". parasitic wasps.

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