Ever see a lone flying moth in your kitchen in winter? See a few holes in that flour bag? Find some crawling "worms" in cornmeal? This is the time of year where you might find pantry pests....pests that infest food materials. With the season of cooking and baking upon us, it is common to open up the ingredient containers and find a surprise...stored product pests.

Indian Meal Moths frequently are found flying haplessly in kitchens and living rooms. The moth is not a good flier and is usually a lone flier. The adult moths do not feed but the larvae, which can penetrate packages, will infest cracked grain such as wheat or cornmeal. They will also feed on nutmeats. The larvae feed in the grain and then crawl from the food source to pupate. After this resting stage, the adults emerge leaving a spun webbing and start the process again. Sometimes the abandoned webbing is found in cracks and crevices of plastic food containers or even in the wall/ceiling jointure in livingrooms. Our technicians can identify these pests and can prescribe a treatment, sometimes using pheromone traps or attractants to male adult moths. Don't spray any homeowner product in your food storage area.....call the professionals.

Sawtoothed and Merchant Grain Beetles are very similar looking. Both have jagged sawlike protrusions on the sides of the middle section (thorax). Both are typically dark brown. Sawtoothed Grain Beetles feed on flour and other cracked grains but cannot fly. Merchant Grain Beetles prefer oily products such as nuts and chocolate but will infest many foods other than whole grains. The best control measures is to thoroughly inspect and find the source...something that our professionals are trained for.