Pests In the Pantry

Pests in the Pantry

Nothing can be more annoying than dumping a box of pasta into a pot of boiling water and suddenly finding bugs float to the top.

At Standard Pest, we have seen our fair share of insects that love to target food items in the kitchen pantry such as crackers, tea, flour, herbs, spices, chocolate, dried fruits, nuts and a bunch of other foods. The first question that comes to mind is where did they come from?

Some people think that these pests may have come in from outdoors but this is not entirely the case. In fact most are probably delivered or carried in already packed away in the food we purchased.

They may have gotten into the raw food items were they were stored, were they were processed or the finished food product may have been contaminated in transit. Sometimes food sits on the shelf so long at a supermarket or retail store that pests manage to find their way inside the packaging. And the chance of infestation increases the longer a food item sits in the store or warehouse.

Most Common Pantry Pests We Get Calls About

The most common pantry pests we get calls on in NYC or Long Island are for beetles, weevils and moths. These insects all have a complete metamorphosis (life cycle) of egg larvae, pupa and adults which enable them to go undetected and infest for several months and longer. While the exact item may vary by pest the list can include whole grains, rice, beans, seeds, pet food, nuts, pasta soup mixes spices, matzah meal, grits, teas, potpourri and much more.

Our Solution to Your Pantry Pest Problem includes proper identification, education and eradication of the conditions which allowed for pests to establish.

Standard Pest technicians are extremely successful at discovering the potential source of these infestations which is the key step to control. WE may use monitor or specialized pheromone traps to locate hot spots and identify species. With that information we can help you track down the source. Control starts with discarding the infested materials and sanitation to remove various stages and food product. In addition we can recommend proper storage practices to reduce the odds of future infestations like using plastic containers, isolation, refrigerator storage and food rotation.

Frequently these pest issues can be resolved without the use of pesticides but in some cases due to the level of infestation it may require their judicious use. Should that be necessary Standard can help again by making limited applications of the best and reduced risk materials in these sensitive areas.