Why and what to do if there is a mole in the cereals

Cereal moth

Cereal moth

Folk remedies for cereal moth

Folk remedies for cereal moth

 

In nature, there are many insect pests that cause discomfort to humans. Almost every housewife met with one of these representatives in the kitchen. This is about food moth. This winged insect can appear even in that house where perfect cleanliness is maintained. Typically, the pest is wound up in dry bulk products, and neither a plastic bag nor a paper bag are an obstacle for it. What to do if there is a mole in the grits, this article will tell.

Features

Cereal moth is a nondescript small butterfly (up to 10 mm) of gray or black color. On the wings of insects of a gray hue, black blotches in the form of a pattern can be seen. The pest belongs to the same family as the wrecker, flour or fruit moth. A distinctive feature of cereal moths is the nutrition of dry bulk products: rice or buckwheat, flour, grain. The insect can live even in nuts and dried fruits. Adult individuals do not use them for food, but only lay eggs there. It is the hatched larvae that pose a threat to groceries.

The life expectancy of cereal moths is 5-6 days, some individuals live up to 3 weeks. The insect multiplies very quickly, managing to leave enough posterity after itself. The pest hides in secluded, inaccessible places. The activity of the cereal moth is manifested at night, so it can not be detected immediately.

Penetration paths

The question of why moles are planted in cereals is puzzled by many housewives. Moth can enter the house in several ways:

• With contaminated products from a market or store;
• Through a window in the absence of a mosquito net;
• Through the vent.

To minimize the risk of penetration of pest butterflies into the apartment, it is preferable to purchase groceries in large stores than in street markets. It is the wrong storage conditions that contribute to the spread of the pest.

Harm from cereal moth

Unlike other domestic pests, cereal moth is not a carrier of infectious diseases, since it does not eat spoiled foods. However, to say that the insect is harmless is impossible. Moth larvae not only eat cereals, but also clog them with their excrement and skins left after degeneration into adults. As a result, foods become unfit for food.

On a note!

Many housewives are puzzled and do not know if it is possible to eat cereal if a mole is wound in it. Contaminated products are dangerous to human health, so you can’t eat them. With a slight degree of infection, "reanimate" the cereal can be, if you sort and dry it in the oven.

How to remove cereal moth

To answer the question of what to do if a mole is wound up in cereals, you need to know how to store cereals. The winged pest prefers to breed in moist and poorly ventilated places. If a mole is started in the cereal, the following measures must be taken.

1. Make an audit in kitchen cabinets. It is necessary to carefully sort and review the packages and containers in which flour, sugar, dried fruits and other bulk products are stored. Having discovered the presence of insects in them, you should immediately get rid of the packaging. In order to avoid the spread of food moths, long-stored cereals should be reviewed periodically.
2. Sanitize. All surfaces of kitchen furniture should be washed with a solution of laundry soap or other detergent. Then they must be thoroughly dried in the open air.
3. A more radical way of controlling insects is to use aerosols. They are used to treat the inner surface of kitchen furniture to prevent the spread of the pest. Before processing with a chemical agent, all products and utensils are removed from the premises, since such agents are toxic. With regards to infected cereals, it is better to get rid of them altogether.
4. Warming the surviving products in the oven is the next stage of getting rid of moths. It is enough to place them on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees for 20 minutes. For the same purpose, you can use a microwave.
5. Moth freeze - Another way to disinfect products. The surviving larvae or moth eggs can be destroyed by putting them in the freezer for several days. Products will not be affected by this procedure if they are dry and packaged in paper bags.
6. Disinfected products must be stored in dry glass or plastic containers with a hermetically sealed lid.

Folk remedies for the control of cereal moth

Insecticidal preparations against moths in this case it is impossible to apply, since the products in which the pest is planted are used as food. Therefore, the best way to fight is to use folk remedies.

Garlic

It is enough to put several cloves of garlic in containers with cereals, and not a single insect will settle there. The fact is that the pest does not tolerate the garlic smell. He will not affect the taste of the products.

Lavender and Citrus Peel

Lavender will help get rid of moths. Several inflorescences plants scare away moth if you place them in the kitchen cabinet. A similar effect has an orange or lemon peel.

Vinegar

Another means of fighting moths is vinegar. After processing the furniture surface with a soapy solution, it should be wiped with vinegar, and the moth will not fly into such a cabinet.

Essential oils

Prevent the occurrence of the parasite with the help of essential oils of cloves, mint, tansy, wormwood, basil or rosemary. Their smell does not appeal to the pest. Parts of the plants themselves can also be used by placing them in gauze bags on the shelves of cabinets.

Geranium

Moth will not fly through an open window if geraniums stand on the windowsill. This indoor plant was used by our grandmothers not only for the sake of beauty. The specific smell of geranium is not to the liking of many pests. And moth is no exception.

Bay leaf

It is enough to place a bay leaf in a container with cereal or other loose product, and the moth will not start there. Or you can simply lay it out in the corners of the shelves where food is stored.

Walnut leaves

Walnut, or rather its leaves, is no less effective in controlling pest. Moth for a long time will forget the way to cereals and other bulk products stored on the shelf, if fresh walnut leaves are laid on top of them.

Tobacco and camphor

The smell of camphor will not allow insects to settle in the kitchen cabinet. Tobacco has a similar effect. Just put it on the shelves.

Observing the rules for storing bulk products and using folk remedies for moths as a preventive measure, the question of what to do if a mole is started in the cereal will not arise.

Reviews

A month ago, I opened a bag of rice and was horrified - a sea of ​​worms and several butterflies flew out.After glancing at buckwheat and millet, they were also infected. I threw out all the cereals in the house and processed the cabinets with vinegar. So far, the moth has not appeared.

Olga, St. Petersburg

It’s rare, but it happens that we bring infected products from the store. If I see pests in cereals or flour, I immediately throw everything away. It is not in vain that they say that the greedy pays twice. And for prevention, garlic in cereals helps a lot: the products do not absorb its smell, and the mole does not like such a neighborhood.

Anna, Kiev

When a mole appeared in the kitchen, I immediately began to audit the cabinets. However, neither in cereals nor in flour did it find a pest. I didn’t even understand what was the matter then, until I opened a separate bag with walnuts. It was there that was a hotbed of moths. After putting everything in the trash, pests were no longer observed. Cabinets and shelves in the kitchen were treated with soap and Raptor from insects.

Miroslava, Omsk

And before I put the groats I bought on the market into the kitchen table, I disinfect it in the microwave. Then I pour it into a glass jar and cover with a tight lid. But if nevertheless the moth has appeared, freezing cereals in the freezer for a couple of days helps.

Natalia, Kirov