moth traps?

Soundguy · Apr 20, 2009

The wife raises small birds ( finches, parakeets, cockatiels.. yada yada.. ).. she has a room full of them and thus buys seed in the 20# bulk bags. Offacionally we get these small ? moths? that are about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long.. they are apparently the end result of a small caterpillar that makes a coccoon of about the same size. Once we open a bag that has these, we play heck for the next week doing search and destroy before they get out of hand.

I had heard one time there was a trap or other chemical 'aid' for these.. and maybee I think I even saw pics and there was a name listed her ont he board.. a few months back.. though i can't find it now.

any clues?

soundguy

jdbower · Apr 20, 2009

Were you referring to this thread?

TBDonnelly · Apr 20, 2009

We've had the grain moths in the past. Birdseed and dog food brought them in.

It took a lot of due diligence to get rid of them. Stored the Birdseed/dog food in the garage in sealed metal trash cans. Got rid of any old/opened pantry items. What was left was sealed in plastic containers. Went thru many of the 'Pantry Pest traps' before finally ridding the house of the grain moths.

Don

Soundguy · Apr 20, 2009

Pantry pest traps? can you expand on this.

soundguy

Soundguy · Apr 20, 2009

Ahh.. now i found them.

thanks

soundguy

Soundguy · Apr 20, 2009

jdbower said:
Were you referring to this thread?

you da man!

exactly what i needed.

soundguy

Redneck_Randy · Apr 21, 2009

Put serveral of them out Soundguy. I put 4 of them in my pantry to get ride of them. They did do the job getting ride of them. Just make sure you get the right pheromone traps.

Soundguy · Apr 21, 2009

I'm going to stop by lowes on the way to my night job.

I assume it will say pantry moths onthem.. correct?

soundguy

jimmyj · Apr 21, 2009

I work in the food business and was interested to see this thread. Indian Meal Moths are a real pain and I can maybe help a bit.

a) they thrive in birdseed because it is not ground or cooked like other foods. Many of the seed items you buy for domestic or wild birds are fumigated but that does not kill the eggs or pupae (common for insecticides).

b) heat stimulates them to hatch. Think of the wilds - bug lays egg, egg sits dormant over winter, warm weather wakes it up and viola, a new bug.

c) find the "mother ship" - there is always a colony that is the source of the infestation.

d) you can kill them by freezing. If you have a small bag of seed toss it into the freezer overnight

e) pheremone traps are not intended to stop infestations. They are actually indicators to detect infestation and the level of same. You need a bug spray or something to kill them off.

f) some birds, particularly canaries can get very sick or die from bug sprays. Remove them all if you fumigate the room.

g) probably the best thing to do is toss the stuff, clean the room like crazy, and start over with the seed in separate airtight containers. That way you can limit the spread and also identify problems when they are isolated.

Good luck!