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Sex and the Single Moth
If you have problems in your kitchen with bugs in your grains and nuts, now is the time to head them off. By far the principal storage grain pest in our area is the Indian Meal Moth. These critters start to proliferate as temperatures warm. The moth is a tiny gray one which lays eggs on stored food products which are so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. They hatch into small worms which are white and about 1/2- to 1/4-inch long.
Some cultures would welcome these worms as a nutritious addition to their diets, however most Americans seem to agree that they are to be avoided. Fortunately we have some very good non-toxic controls for these little fellows.
The first thing to know about the Meal Moth is that the higher the temperature the better they like it. Food stored in a cool cupboard will have much less of a problem than if stored in a warm spot, like over an oven.
There is also a very good biological control using a sticky trap baited with a pheromone. Pheromones are naturally occurring chemicals produced by female moths to attract males. By catching the males, no mating takes place and the life cycle is stopped. This is the system that we use at Good Earth and it is a very effective long-term solution. Like most biological controls you do need to think ahead a little. It will probably take two to three weeks after installing traps before you notice the population of moths start to decline. This is why we recommend installing traps (which Good Earth has for sale) in the spring before you have a big outbreak. We keep our traps up all year at Good Earth for best control.
Although these moths can be a nuisance in stored grain, the fact that you occasionally see them is due to the fact that some very toxic chemicals have not been used to eradicate them. The principle ones used in conventional storage are methyl bromide and aluminum phosphide, both of which are extremely toxic. Methyl bromide is also considered a powerful ozone layer destroyer, even more sinister than CFC’s.
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STORE HOURS |
| Mon |
9-9 PM |
| Tue |
9-9 PM |
| Wed |
9-9 PM |
| Thu |
9-9 PM |
| Fri |
9-9 PM |
| Sat |
9-9 PM |
| Sun |
9-9 PM |
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