Small brown moth(?) home invaders and how to kill them

[TexArcher 37,795]

I saw a couple of these things in the house a week or two ago, didn't think much of it, and sprayed them.  A few days later, same thing.  I figured they were coming in through the AC system to escape the sauna outside or something.  Well, however they got in, they're here now and they're making more of themselves.  

Details:

Small, retangular top to bottom when wings are folded, less then half an inch long, closer to quarter of an inch.  Brown and look two-tone.

They don't hurt clothes.  They don't seem to care about food - I see them all around the house randomly, not just in the kitchen.  I put some honey out on a plate hoping they'd get stuck and I could smash them and they weren't interested at all.

Their larvae or whatever look like a rectangle of grayish lint or something (like they're furry) with a little inch worm head that sticks out, like they're pulling themselves along.  And they go up the wall and end up hanging from the ceiling and presumably fly out from there leaving their little furry cocoon thingy hanging there.

Also, there aren't very many of them.  I see maybe one or two a day randomly, and kill them, but I never seem to get the last of them.

I checked online and they look like pantry moths or Indian meal moths, but those lay eggs in food and these don't.  So I don't fucking know.

I'm sure some of y'all know what I'm talking about and hopefully how to murder the shit out of them.  Please tell me I don't have to call an exterminator, board my dog, have my whole place fumigated.

Edited August 13, 2019 by TexArcher

[Updawg 2,266]

No clue. Where are you.located?

[TexArcher 37,795]

Austin

[Updawg 2,266]

Shit, hope I don't get them. I would think there is a moisture/gap reason bringing them in. Look around that area for something moisture related. The dry/ heat is bringing them in somehow

[BNB 100]

https://www.amazon.com/Catchmaster-812sd-Pantry-Moth-Traps/dp/B00ML8C7H8

[RPM 26,322]

Could be fall armyworm moths. If you have Bermuda grass, kiss it goodbye. 

[BottleRocket 646]

Look again in your pantry. Look in your flour, Cereal, and pasta containers. Stare at it for a little while and see if it’s moving.

[Walser 1,109]

Shit I have these too in Austin. Fuzzy little larvae fuckers as well. I did find that there were some holes in some ancient ass clothes in the back of the closet I should have gotten rid of long ago. Don't think I have any grains, cereals, or pasta in the pantry but I will check now.

Got mothballs and seemed to help a little. Probably invite some sneks in and just torch the place.

 

[Kennythetiger 9,388]

Chase them around with a shop vac like my dad used to.  

[Elvis 3,371]

I had these forever then they went away.  A couple show up every now and then, but not nearly as many as before.  They love the pantry and did get into some cereal I think.  Our drinking straws are stored vertically in a cup.  I grabbed one and took a sip and got to find out how the larvae taste.  

[gsoda3 3,262]

sound like pantry moths.  

[Js1 85,350]

18 hours ago, Walser said:

Shit I have these too in Austin. Fuzzy little larvae fuckers as well. I did find that there were some holes in some ancient ass clothes in the back of the closet I should have gotten rid of long ago. Don't think I have any grains, cereals, or pasta in the pantry but I will check now.

Got mothballs and seemed to help a little. Probably invite some sneks in and just torch the place.

 

You some kind of weirdo? 

[baboso 6,056]

When you stare into your cereal, flour, and pasta containers, they also stare into you.

[gsoda3 3,262]

pantry moths love cardboard.  so even if you don't have grains, cereals, etc in your pantry they can still thrive under can labels or in cardboard boxes.  i hate them.  they're the reason we had to go to all glass.  

[immortal13 4,059]

Take a pic and post it

[Bevo 13,577]

Naphthalene in the pantry may work but isn't a great idea because of (minimal) toxicity. As an adult, I wouldn't worry but with kids it is better to be safe. Instead use pheromone-based treatments in the pantry. For those to work, though you need to follow the directions to the letter. Throw out any food that's even remotely suspect, wash/wipe down everything, put all foods in moth-proof containers, and religiously follow the instructions on the traps for how many to put out and how often to replace them.

[BNB 100]

I had them bad and used those traps i posted above and worked awesome.

[Walser 1,109]

On 8/14/2019 at 10:55 AM, Js1 said:

You some kind of weirdo? 

Yes, yes I am.

I'm moving for the first time in ten years so everything will just kind of take of itself in the purge and deep clean. It'll fix the "glitch". Will setup traps in the new place just in case.

[TexArcher 37,795]

On 8/12/2019 at 11:25 PM, BNB said:

https://www.amazon.com/Catchmaster-812sd-Pantry-Moth-Traps/dp/B00ML8C7H8

Gonna try this - thanks for the suggestion.

[gyroprotagonist 2,594]

yep, did the traps.  just keep putting them out there.  Also, may want to just empty the pantry of food stuffs, dried fruits etc... or at least inspect every single bag.  Then keep all new stuff sealed.  They will also get into your closet and eat your clothes/hats.   Place traps in closet as well.  If you keep seeing them and the traps are getting full, then you have not found and removed the source.  There will be a bunch of them in a bag of cereal or something and if don't get that, they will keep multiplying no matter how many the traps get.

Replace the pheromone things inside traps as well.  I would keep up the traps for 6 months or so.  When we had them, we would get close to eradicating the species and then they would come back and after scouring the kitchen would find 1 bag of something on the top shelf of the pantry where they were multiplying.  I think the originally got into the house in some birdseed that we got for a kids' school project or something.

[Newdoc 3,440]

Dealt with these MF's for two years and finally pulled everything out of the pantry and threw it most of it away, especially if it appeared to have cocoon webbing from these bastards. They will lay eggs everywhere and once the next round hatches it's like Blitzkrieg all over again. If you have something you really want to keep then freeze for up to 8 days to kill anything in the product. BTW, you can import the deviants from the grocery store. They love grains but sugar products will do. If you have loosely stored corn meal, rice, pasta then just chunk it and start over.

We used combo of bug bombs, complete wipe down of all shelves with vinegar solution, put up sticky flying bug and pheromone traps and took turns like night watchmen with fly swatters and flying bug spray to combat the hatchlings. I feel like we've won the war but I think maybe pockets of resistance are somewhere in the house and we'll let our guard down and bring them home concealed in a package from HEB (when it's open).  Now we seal up everything in containers if possible.

Godspeed OP. PM me if you have develop the inevitable PTSD. I can talk you through it. Sometimes Valium helps but they're always in my dreams. My God, the dreams....

Edited August 26, 2019 by Newdoc

[scottsins 1,966]

If you have dog food/treat me in the home, they are meal moths. I had those and it just took meticulously checking for and removing them from all of their insidious locations to get rid of them.