I don’t know which I find more disturbing: reading this thread or the fact I keep misreading the phrase in the headline as ‘panty moths’.
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Speaking of nuking the site from orbit…
I wonder how punchy an x-ray source, and dosage time, you’d need to irradiate eggs to death in suspect foodstuffs before packaging them in moth-resistant glass containers?
X-ray tubes aren’t exactly household equipment(now that CRTs are gone); but they have the advantage of only producing radiation when powered(unlike sealed gamma sources), and they aren’t terribly uncommon in medicine, industry, and science.
With a bit of caution and some suitable shielding this could be a fun DIY project and a righteous cleansing by atomic fire!
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I guess I’m the only person who isn’t that bothered by them. Granted I’ve only had minor infestations–the ones I’ve had never seem to live beyond the larval stage. I think they die of dehydration.
I do the best I can to get them out of rice and flour, but I suspect they hide pretty well in cereal, and I’ve found 'em in oatmeal too. I think of them as extra protein.
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but you have to make sure you kill them all, or you end up with a population of super mutant moths.
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[quote=“mju, post:18, topic:53410”]
I’ve been told that pheromone traps only work for closed spaces and that you might attract moths from afar if you have e.g. open windows (any experts around who can confirm or dispute this?).[/quote]
Anecdotal evidence: Last summer – the summer after the outbreak – after months of seeing no moths but facing a couple of weeks away, I inspected everything and put out new traps. Over the space of months they did attract a couple of dozen moths, but frequent inspection showed no infestations in food. I check under the shelves and the pantry ceiling, under and behind things, through the plastic bins.
So where did they come from? I keep my balcony door open a good part of the year, so my dog can lounge around out there. I suspect they may be migrating in.
I have some spider guests that I believe are helping in my pantry. I try not to disturb them too much. I have used these same traps as well, to some success. Hate these nasty little monsters.
We battled pantry moths constantly in our last house, and have never once had a problem in this house. I wonder what changed? Our dry goods were all in one place at the old house, now we keep cans, pasta, and beans in one cupboard, flour and mixes in a different cupboard, and cereal in yet another. Rice lives only in the fridge now. But I wouldn’t say we are buying different products per se.
Well, I’m just going to say that pantry moths are a phenomenon that I have yet to encounter. Thank god.
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Me too.
Wool moths that love to eat my cashmere sweaters yes, but not pantry moths thankfully!
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I had wool moths that ate through the pants of a very nice suit. Didn’t discover it till I was at a business function and people were inspecting my rear :). I laugh about it now, but it was… An experience 
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I get so mad! They chew holes right in the middle of lovely sweaters! Where you can’t darn it without it showing! Why not the sleeves or the seams or anywhere else other than right smack dab in the middle of the front! Ugh, stupid worms! I have cedar everydamnwhere in my closet now! 
They still come… stupid bugs!
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I think you are indeed an outlier in this thread. 
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Oh, don’t you worry. They say “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” I say “If a thing’s worth killing, it’s worth overkilling.”
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In practice, I suspect that a nontrivial amount of ‘extra protein’ makes its way into the human food supply. I just strongly object when it wriggles or still has recognizable grub-features at the point where I’m supposed to be eating it.
If it turns out that, due to wheat contamination, some flour is actually a a percentage point or so homogenized bugs, I figure my immune system can probably take it; but I want the suckers dead and ground up.
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Not moths but same idea:
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Its so old, but that is still my favourite gif.
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that is seriously my favorite gif of all time. thank you for brightening my day.
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You’ve still got them.
I’ve tried these and they don’t catch larvae. You have to throw out basically anything that has not been sealed in a can or glass. They eat through plastic bags (even double walled), they find their way past rubber seals. The only solution for me was to throw out every trace of grain or fruit not in said containers, put mothballs everywhere, and then put all new food inside Mason jars.
If you’re wondering, the most common entry vehicle to your pantry is sunflower seeds. Look closely at them. you’ll find some with tiny holes on the end. Those have moth larvae that you’re eating.
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Shelled or unshelled?
Unshelled. Shelling would dump them out.
