What's Creeping Around Lewisville Pantries?
Have you ever pulled a bag of flour out of your pantry to make a batch of cookies only to discover something crawling in it? Getting bugs in your pantry food items is disconcerting, and if it happens to you, it's important to fully deal with the problem so that it doesn't become worse. But what are these bugs creeping around your Lewisville pantry, and how do you get rid of them?
Pantry pests, or stored product pests, are the names given for a variety of bugs that make their home in your pantry items. These include:
- Cigarette Beetles - These small, oval-shaped beetles have a hunched appearance, vary in color from red to brown to yellow, and can fly. Fans of dried tobacco, they’re also commonly found in spices, grains, pet food, rice, and more.
- Carpet Beetles - Small and dome-shaped, carpet beetles are a mottled mix of colors. They often lay their eggs in cereals, flour, rice, and other dried goods.
- Saw-Toothed Grain Beetles - Brown, with long, narrow bodies, saw-toothed grain beetles feed on grains, sugar, bread, nuts, dried fruit, and more.
- Confused Flour Beetles - Shiny brown and small, confused flour beetles have wings but don't fly. They feed on products with a high moisture content that is easy to digest.
- Weevils - Weevils are small, dome-shaped, and brownish-black in color. They eat a variety of dried foods, including cereal, corn, and pasta.
- Indian Meal Moths - With multi-colored banded wings, Indian meal moths are about ¾ of an inch long. They lay their eggs in stored foods, and the larvae eat the food after hatching.
How Are Pests Getting Into Your Pantry Items?
Sometimes pantry pests get into your home from outside. They crawl in through small cracks and find their way to the areas of your home with a food source. More often though, your home becomes infested with pantry pests when you bring them home in an already infested food item you bought at the grocery store. They may have gotten into the product at the store or during the food processing procedure.
How To Prevent Pantry Pests
Regardless of how they get into your Lewisville house, if you don’t notice them right away, pantry pests can soon take over your pantry, infesting many of the items inside and making them unusable. To prevent them from getting into your house, do the following:
- Seal all cracks, holes, and gaps around the outside of your home.
- Check items at the grocery store for holes before putting them in your cart.
- Put all pantry foods in sealed, hard-sided containers.
- Clean up any spills in the pantry as soon as they happen.
- Check your pantry items regularly for signs of bugs or larvae.
What To Do If Pantry Pests Get In Your Lewisville Home
If you discover a pantry pest problem, you need to fully eradicate it if you hope to prevent it from recurring. Throwing your pantry foods away and entirely cleaning your pantry is an excellent place to start, but it doesn't always fully take care of the problem.
Adams Exterminating Company offers pest control for pantry pests that will effectively and affordably eliminate your pantry pest problem. Contact us for more information.