Indian Meal Moth: Hiding in Plain Sight

Fall means Halloween, apple crisp, pumpkin pies, cornucopia and harvest decorations. But sometimes the things we use to decorate our homes can harbor unwanted quests like the Indian mean moth! Indian Meal Moths can enter your home hidden inside fall decorations, pop corn and other stored products.
Indian meal moths are considered a pantry of stored product pest. The adult moth female lays her eggs in products such as corn kernels (including pop corn), rice, nuts, seeds, beans, dried fruits, chocolate, spices, flour, oats and cereals. A single female can lay up to 30 eggs at a time! A small yellow larva will hatch out of the egg and wander around within the product to feed. Larvae do the damage to the product and are responsible for the holes you may see in kernels as well as small bite marks, webbing, and fecal material. A larva then spins a cocoon or pupal case from which an adult will emerge to mate, and the cycle will begin all over again.
Often times, homeowners bring Indian meal moths home with them in such products as birdseed, dog and cat food, or even infested cereals or beans from a grocery store. Usually they are in products that rotate slowly off grocery store shelves. When shopping, always inspect products for signs of infestation-larvae, webbing, holes in packaging, or the pupal cases or adult moths themselves. If by chance you do accidentally bring them home, we can help you get rid of them. If you think you may have Indian Meal Moths, contact A1 Exterminators to do an inspection of your home.