Are they little off-white moths? We got those one time in a cereal box and had to throw away everything with the moths & put everything else that wasn't canned in the fridge or freezer. They even got in an unopened jar of peanut butter. Yuck! But after we did that, cleaned really well, & sprayed the cabinets, we never had another problem. Another thing, when I go shopping, if I see those little moths flying around in an aisle, I turn around and LEAVE without buying anything.

Put everything in a container. I had the same problem. Just ensure if the food doesn't come in an air tight plastic bag, that you ziploc it or put it in a jar, canning jar, or plastic jar. This way you will keep whatever you are bringing home in the jar or anything in your home out of the jar.

Well, the ones I had could get into a zip lock and a jar. They didn't get into plastic bags that were factory sealed, but ONLY if they really were sealed all around. There was one cereal box - unopened - that had just a tiny place that wasn't sealed up and they got in it.

Here's a picture of the little buggers:
http://gnv.ifas.ufl.edu/~fairsweb/images/en/indian.gif

The one's I have seem to have a little less color.

I can't believe how often this problem comes up. Buy dried bay leaves at a bulk food store. Put them in little mesh bags and put the bags in your dog food bag, your pantry, your 25# flour sack and any other place where you see these moths. You will find them GONE immediately. I use pantyhose to make my little bags.

I bought some of these traps at the hardware store for 6.00 each--I change them as needed and havent seen any bugs for a while

I, too, had a tremendous moth problem. We emptied our
entire pantry and checked every package, washed the shelves
and cans, and replaced much of the food into glass or plastic storage containers. Then we spread crumbled bay
leaves over the shelf. We had to do this three times.

Then, one day I looked up to the ceiling of my pantry and saw at least 100 tiny moths. I got my Makita wand type
vacuum and sucked the little critters up. I did this for
at least twice a day for 2 weeks. Now I see maybe 3 a day
and suck them up into my trusty wand.

I also found a wonderful aid. Fly traps by Aeroxon. They cost only 97 cents for 4. They are packaged in small
disks which you open while you gently twirl to open out the
sticky tape. This type is the best I've seen and also cheaper. I tried another kind, but it had no cap on the
bottom so sticky stuff, really stick stuff!, continually
dripped onto the floor and shelves. These trapped at least
a zillion moths for me!
Hope these suggestions work for you, as well.

Nita

I've been getting them for a few months now. I live in Sydney (Australia) which, being hot for quite a bit of the year, made me assume they were local pests - just part of living in a mostly very warm climate. But I found this forum and found I'm not the only person who's got them!!

I have done all the cleaning etc as well but they come pretty quickly (since they actually never go away due to the eggs, larvae and pupae being so difficult to kill).
I had another cleanup today of my food cupboards and found a bag of opened muesli (sealed with a twist-tie) which was completely infested. I also found them in a mixed nuts and grains snack I eat (in an air-tight plastic container!!), in an opened bag of brown rice and even a larvae in a box of peppermint tea (who says they don't like mint?!).

I don't know if we get the same traps etc in Australia but I am going to find out tomorrow! In the meantime I have spread dried bay leaves around in my food cupboards... does anyone have any specific recommendations for what type of bay leaves to use - I guessed dried are the only sort anyway! Do they need to be cumbled etc? I don't want to have to muck around making mesh bags etc - is this really necessary or should the bay leaves just get rid of them anyway?

Well, I'll see how the bayleaves go and probably get some traps as well... little b*ggers are driving me nuts!!!

The larva are in the food when you buy it and they become mature moths in your home.

I just ordered a Pantry Moth Trap from Solutions Catalog...haven't gotten it yet but hope it will work. They can be contacted at www.SolutionsCatalog.com or 1-800-342-9988. Product #64650 for Pantry Moth Trap, pkg of 2 traps ($8 ea or 2 or more pkgs for $7.50 ea). I hope it works! Good luck to all!

Snickerslady, I tried Pantry Moth traps when my duplex was infested. They worked for a while, but then I noticed that the packaging of the traps was different. And the product wasn't as effective. I switched to the (not as attractive) sticky tape traps that Nita mentioned. They worked better than Pantry Moth traps.

I know what you have. I'm having the same problem in my house. They are called Indianmeal moth or something like that. The traps the exterminator set up contain pheromones that attract the adult moths. Just so you know the moths in there early stages are not moths at all but maggot like creatures. They are pretty nasty. Look at my post entilted "My house in infested" I have some links to the pic I posted of these little critters.

I was searching online on how to get rid of them. They say to put flour, grain, rice and those type of food in airtight containers and to seek out where the contaminated food supply is and get rid of it. Good luck on getting them out of your house.

Roberta is right, the bay leaves work. Stick them right inside the flour, rice, etc. It will keep new moths from getting in and laying eggs. I've never had a problem.

My little buggers came in a paper bag of bird seed that I used to keep inside- moved that outside, of course! I did the same thing the others did - put grains, cereals in airtight plastic containers, Pantry moth traps worked pretty well for me. A few different suggestions- instead of spreading bay leaves, I emptied the cupboard and sprayed with a cedar spray that I bought at the Container Store. People think of cedar only to use in clothes closet, but it seemed to work in my pantry, too. And since I knew the site of the infestation (the bag of bird seed in the corner), I could watch out for the larvae in that area and try to nab them. It's in the larval stage that the critters do the damage - munching on food, etc. The adults flying around are just interested in mating. Killing them won't stop current damage, but of course it will keep the next generation from chomping on your food. One last preventive suggestion - don't buy bird seed in big paper bags, only in plastic containers! Or at least keep it outside in a big airtight garbage can.

I just found a nest of them in my garage - in a big 50 pound plastic bag of birdseed. Guess the paper bag isn't the issue! I got rid of the seed immediately. Next purchase of seed will include an airtight metal can in which to store it.

Geoff - no fun! My local hardware store stopped selling bird seed in paper bags because they had an infestation of their store, but I'd better warn them that they're not secure with plastic, either. Maybe all bird seed is vulnerable from the time of packaging?

My current bird seed might have the larva in it still, but I just put it in the metal garbage can (raccoons around here will chew through Rubbermaid, etc.) with lots of bungy cords to keep out critters. I don't really care if baby moths are in there, as long as they don't get in my house. I think your garage will be safe as long as they're trapped in the can. Good luck and thanks for feeding the birds.

We got some moths in a standing cupboard pantry. I wiped with a bleach solution and tossed everything (they laid eggs under the rims of jars) and wiped and wiped and Ziplocked everthing in site and still the problem persisted. After months of this routine, I finally became so frustrated that I got a crow bar and took the top part of the cupboard apart. They had laid eggs in between the boards. There was absolutely no way that I could see it without ripping the whole thing apart. It was ugly. The moths are gone now and the cupboard is almost back to its former self. Sometimes tossing everything just doesn't fix it.

You should try this :
As soon as you bring home any Nuts,seeds,grain products,or dried pastas empty them into a microwave safe bowl, put them in the microwave, nuke it for 30 seconds on high,then give them a stir,and do it again for 20 seconds more.
Then let it cool to room temp. this will not effect the food,But it will kill the little buggers. store in air tight containers.
I always cut the labels out ,& the instructions & put in container too.

Ditto here. My infestation started w/ a bag of birdseed purchased at Walmart. I purchased the moth traps from Gardens Alive, went thru all of my food cupboards, pet food and threw out anything questionable. I cannot be more pleased with the traps and they were inexpensive. I am very very careful now and always check things before use and I try to avoid shopping at Walmart. I have seen the moths several times in the pet dept as well as in the food aisles. YUCK! PS: I read somewhere that they can chew threw plastic so may want to check that out before just using Ziplock bags to seal food with.

Yes, these pantry moths are very persistent at getting into where they want. Had an infestation and finally cleared it out.

Yes, very gross to have these things crawling in and around your food items.

Wow! It's been a while since someone has written about this problem, but here I am and I have those moths. I did have them once before about 15 or so years ago. Then I just threw everything out, especially the dog food that was mixed with rice.(The dog food people told us that was the culprit before). I really don't remember what else we did (a friend of mine was having the same problem.) except that I did buy a lot of tupperware to store my grains and flours and such. I am putting the bay leaves in the cupboards now and am also adding sticks of unwrapped spearment gum sticks as I heard that this also gets rid of the little creatures...we will see, I'll let you know and thank for your input.
P.S. I did find a bag of crushed walnuts on the top shelf of one of the cupboards and the bag was open. I also found the majority of the moths there and only in this section of the cupboards, but of course, all will get the wash down.:)

HOW FAR BACK DID YOU PEOPLE NEED TO GO TO FIND A NINE YEAR POST?????

I've had these. I use the sticky traps & I put anything I can in the freezer when I bring it home (flour, cereal, rice, etc.)

Ten year old post. I didn't realize there were posts that old here.

I have NEVER had any luck with the bay leaves. Do people truly swear by this and have witnessed results or is it just something we've all heard about?