Coming home to a pantry full of pests isn’t the homecoming anyone looks forward to having.
A pantry pest infestation is a significant source of frustration. Homeowners may have to discard everyday items, such as fruit, bread, cereal, pet food, crackers, and products often purchased in bulk or stock-piled like dried pasta, spices, dried nuts, and flour.
Fortunately, with help from pest control in Anaheim, you can be sure that your current pantry pest problem is your last.
Read on to learn about the types of bugs that invade pantries and cupboards and the dangers of having pantry bugs. We’ll also explain how these bugs may have found their way into your home and the best way to get rid of pantry pests in Anaheim.
What Kind Of Bugs Invade Pantries And Cupboards?
There are three types of insects that you’re likely to spot in your pantry, and these include:
- Moths
- Small Beetles
- Weevils
The pantry pest beetle is one of the more prevalent pantry pests. The culprit is typically one of two types of beetles: the confused flour beetle and the red flour beetle. Both are small, red, and similar in appearance, but you’re more likely to encounter the latter in your home.
Weevils are also common, which are dark-colored beetles with elongated snouts. Other common pantry pest beetles include cigarette beetles, drugstore beetles, merchant grain beetles, and saw-toothed grain beetles.
If you aren’t seeing actual insects in and around your pantry items, then you may have pantry pest larvae. When able, adult female moths often lay their eggs—which average about 300 eggs but can reach up to 500 eggs—on stored food and grains. The larvae, which resemble tiny worms, are responsible for damaging products.
Moth larvae will continue to eat and eat, leaving behind their excrement, known as frass, which contaminates the foods they infest. You may also notice a film around food products containing moth larvae that resembles a delicate, silky web. Despite the unpleasant notion of having moth larvae in your stored products, these insects will not cause harm to people or pets if accidentally eaten.
How Dangerous Is It To Have Bugs In My Pantry?
Having pantry pests is undoubtedly irritating, but these pests aren’t known to spread disease or cause any long-term damage to your home. Their presence is a nuisance and yields additional costs due to unsalvageable food items that must be discarded and replaced. If you don't handle a pantry pest infestation correctly, you may experience repeated infestations.
Some homeowners attempt to use pantry pest control products such as pantry pest repellent and pantry pest spray to get rid of pantry pests. While some of the solutions available in stores can offer relief, they require a good deal of caution on behalf of homeowners to ensure that product does not come into contact with plates, utensils, or any saved food items. This reason, coupled with others, is why many homeowners opt to go the home pest control route and let the professionals handle the infestation—from start to finish.
How Did Bugs Find Their Way Into My Cupboards?
There are a few reasons why you’re finding bugs in your cupboards, and it’s mainly due to reasons unrelated to your home. Here are two of them:
- Pantry pests may emerge from already infested items you purchased at the store. When you put these items away, pantry pests may migrate from the infested item to food shelved nearby.
- Pantry pests can result from stored pantry items that are left slightly ajar or exposed, which can attract pests.
The most common way for pantry pests to enter homes is through infested products. Products can be infested in the manufacturing plant, on trucks while transporting, and in warehousing facilities. The longer a pantry product sits at any given location, the more likely it is to be infested with pantry pests.
What’s The Best Way To Get Rid Of Pantry Pests?
The safest, fastest, and most convenient way for Anaheim homeowners to get rid of pantry pests is with help from local pest control.
A-1 Bonded Termite is a third-generation, family-owned, and operated business. From 1976 to now, the company continues to provide high-quality pest control treatments and solutions for Anaheim homes and business owners.
If you need help with pantry pests or any other pest, call A-1 Bonded Termite today.