With the holidays nearing, now is the perfect time to ensure you don’t have pantry pests in your Tennessee home. Pantry pests are insects that like to invade your stored food products, often laying their eggs to reproduce and causing a full blow infestation. Let’s go over common pantry pests you can find in your home and how you can further prevent them.
Common Pantry Pests in Tennessee
Indian Meal Moth
The Indian meal moth is known for feeding on several types of food found in our pantry, including dried fruits and vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, candies, and pet food. You can identify these pests by their two-toned wing pattern with a tan to copper oval-shaped body. These pests are highly attracted to light and anywhere they can find food.
Merchant Grain Beetles
This pantry pest has a dark brown body, six legs, and six saw-like teeth on each side of their bodies. Their narrow oval body shape allows them to crawl inside of packaging to eat, live, and reproduce. They prefer to feed on cereals, cake mixes, macaroni, and cookies, even though their names suggest they like grain!
How to Prevent Pantry Pests:
- Invest in proper storage. Utilize food storage containers with airtight locking. The best types of foods to keep in these containers are cereals, pasta, cookies, grains, and seeds.
- Inspect your groceries. The most common way of getting pantry pests is from the store. Inspect the packaging of the items you buy and make sure there are no tears or openings.
- Keep a clean home. On a regular basis, clean out your old pantry items after their expiration date and clean up any leftover crumbs or spills after each meal.
If you suspect pantry pests have invaded your pantry, give your local Tennessee pest control company a call for a customized pest control plan and a free inspection!