Positive Pest Management of New York City provides the highest quality Moth Exterminating Services to residential and commercial customers in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. While Moths can ruin clothing and food, Positive Pest Management has the experience and skill to handle any extermination situation related to these or other pests.
Any of your bug and pest problems will be quickly eliminated with quality & warrantied extermination work.
All moths, including Indian Meal Moths, Grain Moths, Flour Moths (Pantry Moths) and Clothing Moths, love to live in dirty, dark and humid places where nobody disturbs them for long periods. This gives them the time and freedom to destroy our clothes and food. These insects can be brought into homes in packaged foods, although they may enter from outside sources, or from adjacent apartments. Their presence in the home does not necessarily reflect on the quality of the housekeeper.
Indian Meal Moths
Indian meal moths do significant damage to stored flour, meal, and other grain products. Even when the food is minimally infested, the larvae and their webbing will ruin its taste. Once established in food, insect populations can increase and infest vulnerable material throughout the home, or storage area.
Some adult moths can fly but most are carried inside. Homes or facilities with improperly stored, spilled or exposed food products will attract the insects. Foods that are not tightly sealed, especially those maintained for long periods of time, are particularly susceptible to infestation.
The adult Indian meal moth, has a wingspan of about 1/2- to 3/4-inch. The tips or outer half of the wings are reddish brown or “coppery,” while the base portions are grayish-white. The larvae are usually off-white but can be pink, yellow, greenish, or brownish. At maturity, the larvae are about 1/2-inch long.
The larvae, which spin a great deal of webbing while they are feeding and maturing, are usually found in or near silk tubes. When ready to pupate, the larvae will leave their tubes to spin a cocoon. They often migrate a considerable distance from their food source while searching for a pupation site, and are found on walls, countertops, and ceilings. This is especially true when infestations are heavy. There can be four to nine generations per year, depending on the food supply and house temperature.
The larval stage is the feeding or “pest” stage. Indian meal moth larvae appear in grain, cereal and grain products, dried fruit, dog food, candy, dried milk, and many other foodstuffs.
Grain Moths
This is a pest of stored grain and is active at low temperatures and can cause considerable damage during the winter months. Adults cause no damage but the larva will require a whole kernel or caked material for development. Adults are attracted to light. They prefer to attack barley, rye, corn, oats, rice and various seeds. It attacks both grains in the field and in storage, but only whole kernels. It prefers damp grain as opposed to old dry grain.
Infested grain has a sickening smell and taste. The moths leave a lot of debris on top of infested grain. Adults with wingspread are about 1/2- to 5/8-inch long. Their color is buff to pale yellowish brown. Hind wings abruptly narrowed at tip towards front wing and fringed with hair like scales, about as long as wing is wide. The mature larva grow up to 1/4-inch long. They are colored white with yellowish head and dark reddish-brown mouth parts.
Mediterranean Flour Moth
The Mediterranean flour moth is somewhat larger than the Indian meal moth. Their development and the damage they cause is similar to the Indian meal moth, except the larvae live and feed in small silken tubes they spin. Although flour is the favorite food, grains, bran, breakfast foods and pollen in beehives are also attacked. The life cycle takes about 10 weeks.
The webbing and matting of the larvae often cause the greatest amount of damage by this insect, whether it is contaminating foods in the home or clogging industrial machinery. The adult moth is a pale-gray color and from one-forth to one-half inch long, with a wingspread of slightly less than one inch. The wings are marked with two indistinct, black zigzag lines. The hind wings are a dirty white.
This moth is easily recognized by its characteristic pose when resting. When at rest, the moth extends the forelegs which raises the head and gives the body a sloping appearance.
These moths infest closets, drawers and storage areas as well as rugs, wall hangings and upholstery. The damage occurs when larvae feed on certain animal-based fabrics like wool and silk. Sanitation and attention to how fabrics are stored are the keys to clothes moth control.
Clothes moth larvae: These larvae are capable of doing considerable damage to certain types of fabrics and other natural articles. However, only items in long-term storage or those that are not disturbed for long periods of time sustain damage. Items that are regularly used and cleaned are much less likely to be infested.
Clothes moth larvae are especially damaging to fabric that has been stained or soiled; food stains, sweat and urine are especially attractive. In fact, there is evidence that clothes moth larvae will not develop on clean fabric because it lacks certain necessary nutrients. Therefore, always launder or dry clean clothes before putting them into long-term storage.
At Positive Pest Management, we take great pride in our organization and strongly believe that our services should always exceed our customer’s expectations. Our highly competent professional staff is always eager to help you with any of your exterminating needs.
Operated by Benett Pearlman who is a former Regional Director of the New York State Pest Management Association. Mr. Pearlman spent 10 years as NYPMA’s regional Director. Positive Pest Management specializes in commercial, residential, and industrial properties. We’re in the trenches everyday, trouble shooting on site and committed to permanently solving all your pest problems in a cost-effective manner.
When it’s time to select a pest control company for bed bugs, termites, carpenter ants or other pest removal needs, Positive Pest Management is the best choice you can make. We have the experience and the expertise you need to exterminate any kind of pest problem. And we have a real passion for pest removal. That keeps us a leader in the industry.
Please feel free to contact us whenever the need arises.
1.800.294.3130
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