Hawaii’s temperate climate is home to lots of pests that enjoy the year-round tropical climate that kamaaina and visitors enjoy as well! Indian meal moths are one of the pest that thrive in the year round temperate climate for several reasons.
The shipping and storage time are longer, so that by the time you get a stored food product, it is somewhat longer than can be found on the mainland. Indian meal moths are sensitive to temperature changes and will therefore survive and reproduce in greater numbers in Hawaii.
Because we are on an island, many of us are concerned about natural or manmade disasters that could interrupt shipping and cause a shortage of food. For this reason, we tend to store food a bit more than those in other areas. This longer storage time is what stored food pests need to get established and start wasting your food.
Indian Meal Moth Inspection
Indian meal moths infest natural foods products like baking ingredients, beans, pasta, and other products found in the pantry. Commercial warehouses and food processing areas like bakeries can have severe Indian Meal Moth infestations if not monitored. Infestations can be identified by the worms that the moths start out as, as well as “webbing” that cover food. Moths produce this webbing and is a tell-tale sign of indian meal moths.
Indian meal moths are identified by their “two-toned” wings, half tan, half brown. The will be found in cabinets and other areas where their food source/home is located.
Treatments for Indian Meal Moths
There are other kinds of “pantry pests” including cigarette beetles, saw tooth grain beetles, rive weevils, and many others. With many of these pests, the infested food just needs to be thrown away. Any additional food that you may even think could be infested (i.e. anything that’s opened) should be discarded as well.
a residual treatment can be treated around the area if food has been removed, ensuring foraging pests will die sooner than later if their food source is thrown out while their away.
Indian meal moths aren’t super common, but if you think you have them give us a call. We do work with both residential and commercial customers for these pests and have pheromone baiting programs to monitor for these pests as well if needed for your warehouse or food service inspection programs.
Aloha
