Can you help me figure out what these wormy things are in our kitchen, and how to get rid of them?
October 10, 2011 3:04 PM Subscribe
Can you help me figure out what these wormy things are in our kitchen, and how to get rid of them?
Last winter I was cooking some rice on the stove, when I noticed some bits in the pot that definitely weren't rice - although they looked similar. They were these little white/tan wormy things, a bit longer than the grains of rice (but about the same width). We checked the box, found some more, and dumped all of it. We thought that was the end of it.
About 3 or 4 months ago, we found 2 more of these things, crawling across a (closed) box of cereal. So we inspected every boxed/bagged food we had, but didn't find any more. I made sure that everything in a bag was sealed with either a twist-tie or a clip, and kept the flour/sugar/etc in a sealed bag which was kept in a plastic container. I removed all the food from our cupboards, wiped everything down, and sprayed them with Raid.
On Saturday, Mr. Ipsum found another one crawling across the kitchen ceiling, although this one was a more yellow/orange color. Since then, we have come across several on the ceiling, but we can't figure out where they are coming from or where they are nesting. Our main door leads into the kitchen, so I'm not sure if they are coming in from outside, or if they are already nesting in the kitchen. We have some shelves that, for some reason, have a 1-inch gap from the ceiling, so we can't really get a good look at whether there's something there. So Mr. Ipsum sprayed that whole area with Raid, and we hoped that would be it. But we just found another one on the ceiling.
Does anybody know what these things are, how to find out where they are coming from, and how to kill them once and for all?
Last winter I was cooking some rice on the stove, when I noticed some bits in the pot that definitely weren't rice - although they looked similar. They were these little white/tan wormy things, a bit longer than the grains of rice (but about the same width). We checked the box, found some more, and dumped all of it. We thought that was the end of it.
About 3 or 4 months ago, we found 2 more of these things, crawling across a (closed) box of cereal. So we inspected every boxed/bagged food we had, but didn't find any more. I made sure that everything in a bag was sealed with either a twist-tie or a clip, and kept the flour/sugar/etc in a sealed bag which was kept in a plastic container. I removed all the food from our cupboards, wiped everything down, and sprayed them with Raid.
On Saturday, Mr. Ipsum found another one crawling across the kitchen ceiling, although this one was a more yellow/orange color. Since then, we have come across several on the ceiling, but we can't figure out where they are coming from or where they are nesting. Our main door leads into the kitchen, so I'm not sure if they are coming in from outside, or if they are already nesting in the kitchen. We have some shelves that, for some reason, have a 1-inch gap from the ceiling, so we can't really get a good look at whether there's something there. So Mr. Ipsum sprayed that whole area with Raid, and we hoped that would be it. But we just found another one on the ceiling.
Does anybody know what these things are, how to find out where they are coming from, and how to kill them once and for all?
Are you sure they aren't weevils? They don't always nest in food. I've often found them underneath shelves. I've had pretty good success stopping moths from laying in the pantry by sprinkling bay leaves around.
posted by lollusc at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by lollusc at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
Response by poster: The picture doesn't quite look like them. These things actually look like long grains of rice, with no visible legs.
posted by LaurenIpsum at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by LaurenIpsum at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
Carpet beetle larvae? (The larvae are nearest the coin.)
posted by essexjan at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by essexjan at 3:11 PM on October 10, 2011
They are almost certainly flour moth larvae.
Dump all your dry goods, get new.
Seal everything in hard plastic or metal containers: they can chew through plastic bags. Wiki says: Note however that tiny gaps, even at the rim of Tupperware lids, will allow oviposition.
Don't bother spraying Raid where your food is; it's more likely to harm you than them.
posted by Specklet at 3:12 PM on October 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
Dump all your dry goods, get new.
Seal everything in hard plastic or metal containers: they can chew through plastic bags. Wiki says: Note however that tiny gaps, even at the rim of Tupperware lids, will allow oviposition.
Don't bother spraying Raid where your food is; it's more likely to harm you than them.
posted by Specklet at 3:12 PM on October 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
I doubt they are silverfish. Sounds like mealworm larvae to me. The fact that they were found in rice and cereal is suggestive; flour would be the other traditional spot. Note: the larval form, not the beetle.
posted by Justinian at 3:13 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 3:13 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pantry moth larvae? Horrible things. And what Specklet said, above.
posted by dilettante at 3:16 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dilettante at 3:16 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Flour moth larvae may be it. Any other suggestions on how to permanently get rid of them?
posted by LaurenIpsum at 3:17 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by LaurenIpsum at 3:17 PM on October 10, 2011
Pantry moth traps.
I also recommend throwing out pretty much all your dry goods, putting out the traps, and then keeping your flour and other tasty grains in the fridge or freezer for a while or forever.
In the case of flour, the eggs are generally in there...already. Keep the flour in the dark, you don't meet them, and cold and dark is even better.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:21 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I also recommend throwing out pretty much all your dry goods, putting out the traps, and then keeping your flour and other tasty grains in the fridge or freezer for a while or forever.
In the case of flour, the eggs are generally in there...already. Keep the flour in the dark, you don't meet them, and cold and dark is even better.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:21 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sorry, I guess maybe "weevil" is region specific. Weevils are pantry moth larvae. So my suggestion about bay leaves still stands. (But that's for keeping them out, not for killing them).
posted by lollusc at 3:29 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 3:29 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
My mom stores her dry goods in the freezer to prevent flour moths.
posted by quiet coyote at 3:34 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by quiet coyote at 3:34 PM on October 10, 2011
Nthing pantry moth larvae. Have you ever had tiny moths or stringy webs in your rice or other dry goods?
You have to throw away pretty much all your dry goods and then replenish. When we had them, I didn't buy plastic containers for every single thing; instead I bought big, clear plastic bins and stored all the bags in there. Like these. I have seen chew marks on even the thick freezer Ziplocs.
If you have a big enough freezer, you can also go that route.
The trick to avoiding re-infestation is to stay the hell away from bulk bins! I gather you can still get them from boxes and bags of dry goods, but I, personally, have never had them except when buying bulk.
posted by looli at 3:49 PM on October 10, 2011
You have to throw away pretty much all your dry goods and then replenish. When we had them, I didn't buy plastic containers for every single thing; instead I bought big, clear plastic bins and stored all the bags in there. Like these. I have seen chew marks on even the thick freezer Ziplocs.
If you have a big enough freezer, you can also go that route.
The trick to avoiding re-infestation is to stay the hell away from bulk bins! I gather you can still get them from boxes and bags of dry goods, but I, personally, have never had them except when buying bulk.
posted by looli at 3:49 PM on October 10, 2011
the pheromone traps work, but you have to give them time. It may take a few weeks to break up the lifecycle.
posted by cosmicbandito at 3:52 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by cosmicbandito at 3:52 PM on October 10, 2011
Pantry moth = Indian Meal Moth. Get traps.
posted by bolognius maximus at 5:06 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by bolognius maximus at 5:06 PM on October 10, 2011
In my experience, the only thing you can do to rid yourself of these minute monsters is to throw away all of your dry goods, then wipe down all of your cabinets with a mixture of bleach and water.
posted by crunchland at 6:01 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by crunchland at 6:01 PM on October 10, 2011
2nd crunchland's suggestion. Plus, any new dry goods be places in sealed, air-tight containers. And yes, they can chew threw ziploc bags.
posted by Neekee at 6:04 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by Neekee at 6:04 PM on October 10, 2011
Nthing all the comments about pantry/grain larvae. We had a major issue with grain moths for a few months last year, and didn't solve it until we rid ourselves of every grain item in the kitchen (including unopened containers that we'd assumed were safe and moved with us into a new house... needless to say that was a mistake).
We hadn't purchased any grain from bulk bins, so the larvae can also come in from packaged flours or cereals, but once we thoroughly purged and cleaned the pantry they didn't return, which led us to believe there was probably just one item that was the culprit, but we never did learn where it came from.
Anyway, good luck ridding your pantry of the pests. I know it felt so wasteful to toss everything, but it is absolutely necessary.
posted by moshimosh at 6:42 PM on October 10, 2011
We hadn't purchased any grain from bulk bins, so the larvae can also come in from packaged flours or cereals, but once we thoroughly purged and cleaned the pantry they didn't return, which led us to believe there was probably just one item that was the culprit, but we never did learn where it came from.
Anyway, good luck ridding your pantry of the pests. I know it felt so wasteful to toss everything, but it is absolutely necessary.
posted by moshimosh at 6:42 PM on October 10, 2011
I went through this as well. Had to get rid of all my dry goods and wipe everything down. Pheremone traps worked great! And something folks don't think of often re: getting rid of dry goods and grains etc. - if you use corn-based cat litter, you may need to switch.
posted by analog at 7:03 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by analog at 7:03 PM on October 10, 2011
Like many above, I've been there. We got the moths from dry goods purchased at a grocery store--a few months after fighting the moths, I noticed some moths flitting around the flour aisle at my local store. Bastards.
I didn't use traps but I did throw out basically all dry goods--this INCLUDED spices and things like chocolate bars that were kept in with the dry goods. Yes, they eat chocolate. Yes, they are devious. The only good thing about the flour moths is that it was relatively easy to spot where they were, since they left characteristic webs in the packaging and on the shelves.
After tossing everything and wiping it down with bleach, all new dry goods went into the freezer for at least 48 hours before being put in the cupboards--this seemed to do the trick.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 8:14 PM on October 10, 2011
I didn't use traps but I did throw out basically all dry goods--this INCLUDED spices and things like chocolate bars that were kept in with the dry goods. Yes, they eat chocolate. Yes, they are devious. The only good thing about the flour moths is that it was relatively easy to spot where they were, since they left characteristic webs in the packaging and on the shelves.
After tossing everything and wiping it down with bleach, all new dry goods went into the freezer for at least 48 hours before being put in the cupboards--this seemed to do the trick.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 8:14 PM on October 10, 2011
Yep, I've had flour moths too (it finally became clear that that's what we had when we found adult moths in our pantry - ew). Toss everything.
posted by naoko at 8:19 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by naoko at 8:19 PM on October 10, 2011
I have also battled moths similar to pantry moths that came from bird food (I have pet birds) I used traps to get rid of the moths, and prevent them from returning by freezing all the bird food I buy. I leave it in the freezer for a few days, and thaw before using. If you have birds, or have seed for an outdoor birdfeeder, the larvae might be coming from there.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:43 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:43 PM on October 10, 2011
As a slight aside, if you've ever gone to a less than stellar chinese restaurant, and their white rice tasted vaguely of camphor (as in, moth balls) this is why.
posted by crunchland at 2:55 AM on October 11, 2011
posted by crunchland at 2:55 AM on October 11, 2011
I had something like that in my kitchen once and we found their nest in an old can.
posted by timsneezed at 11:22 PM on October 11, 2011
posted by timsneezed at 11:22 PM on October 11, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jimmythefish at 3:09 PM on October 10, 2011