Pantry and fabric pests
Pantry and fabric pest control
These insects eat the food you forgot and the wool you stored. A fogger does not reach a larva in a bag of birdseed. The method is find the source, discard or freeze infested goods, clean the shelf edges, and stop bringing infested bulk food into a sealed kitchen. Shot-holes in hardwood or rasping in pine framing are wood-borers, not pantry moths — compare powderpost beetles and old house borers before you spray a floor.
Indian meal moth
Plodia interpunctella
Indian meal moths are the small moths on kitchen ceilings whose larvae silk together cereal, chocolate, nuts, and bird seed. The…
Clothes moth
Tineola bisselliella and Tinea pellionella
Clothes moths eat keratin: wool, felt, feathers, and soiled natural fibers. They avoid light. The adult moth is not the eater —…
Carpet beetle
Anthrenus and Attagenus spp.
Carpet beetle larvae are hairy and eat animal fibers, shed hair, dead insects, and pollen tracked indoors. Adults are small oval…
Flour beetle
Tribolium spp.
Flour beetles are small reddish beetles that infest already-milled products. They do not typically punch into whole kernels like…
Rice weevil
Sitophilus oryzae
Rice weevils have snouts and develop inside whole kernels. You may see holes in rice and adults walking from a bag. They are not…
Powderpost beetle
Lyctinae and Anobiinae (and related woodborers)
Powderpost beetles leave tiny shot-holes and fine flour-like frass in sapwood, especially unfinished hardwoods, bamboo, and…
Old house borer
Hylotrupes bajulus
Old house borers are longhorned beetles whose larvae tunnel in softwood (pine, fir) framing. The name misleads: they like the…