Identification
- Pantry pests are beetles, moths, or weevils found in and around food items.
- Pantry pests may be difficult to spot at first because they are usually the color of the food they are living in, and because of their small size.
- Immature pantry pests usually look like a caterpillar or grub.
- Adult pantry pests will appear as a small flying moth or beetle found in or around stored food products.
Behavior & Habitat
Pantry pests are often transported into the home already inside packaged foods. They can also sneak in from outside sources or connected housing units. Once they find a tasty food source, pantry pests spend most of their lives crawling happily about in the infested food material. Inside your pantry, these pests pass easily from package to package. As long as conditions are favorable, the pantry pest will continue to breed, completing several generations in a year.
Feeding Habits
Pantry pests enjoy a variety of people and pet foods, the most common being stored product foods that are stored in paper containers and are left unused for long periods of time. Such foods include dry cereals and pastas, flour, dry pet food, corn starch, powdered milk, crackers, breads, bird seed, spices, and dried fruits and nuts.
Damage
Pantry pests become more than a small bother as they multiply, infesting foods and getting into the cracks and crevices of pantries and drawers. In the worst cases, they have been reported to spill over onto counter tops, walls, and floors. Most people find it plain disgusting to find crawling things in the food they eat. The monetary loss of large amounts of food can be devastating to some families. And, ingestion of infested foods can cause belly aches and intestinal problems.
How can I get rid of Pantry Pests?
For more information on how to get rid of pantry pests, see How to Get Rid of Pantry Pests
Recommended Products for Pantry Pests
Suspend SC
Our best selling liquid insecticide concentrate. Suspend SC is excellent for almost all types of insect control.
Invader HPX
Residual aerosol with Baygon for fast pest knockdown and 4 week residual control.
Gentrol IGR Concentrate
Insect Growth Regulator that distrupts the normal development of roaches, drain flies, fruit flies, bedbugs, and stored product pests. 1 oz. bottle.
ALLURE Stored Product Pest Trap Catch Indian Meal Moths and other pantry pests with Propest Pantry Moth Traps
Try our Pantry Pest Kit to get rid of Cigarette Beetles.
View our entire line of Pantry Pest Control products
View our entire line of Pantry Beetle Control products