Moths in the Living room and Kitchen

scholes

Hi

Looking for some help. For the last few weeks we have had an infestation of Tiny moths in the living room and kitchen. it is open plan. I just keep hoovering them up. On any one night I could be hoovering up over 50. I have searched every where and cant figure out where they are coming from. Someone told me that they could be pantry moths , so I have cleaned out and washed inside all the cupboards and thrown out lots of food. I have hoovered everywhere under couches checked the top of presses thrown out the large rug and am at my wits end. Does anyone have any ideas. I took a picture of one of the little blythers if anyone can help with advice it would be much appreciated

BrokenArrows

You said you threw out rugs, do you still have carpets?
They will lay eggs in the carpet.

Are you sure there is no dropped food under the fridge or ontop of the cubbords.

I had a similar issue in a rented house. The main problem was an old rug and some old bag of flower. But i cleaned everything but there were still a few around.

scholes

BrokenArrows wrote: »

You said you threw out rugs, do you still have carpets?
They will lay eggs in the carpet.

Are you sure there is no dropped food under the fridge or ontop of the cubbords.

I had a similar issue in a rented house. The main problem was an old rug and some old bag of flower. But i cleaned everything but there were still a few around.

Hi Thanks for reply ,

There are carpets on the stairs only. But I keep all doors closed and thankfully so far there is none upstairs. I bought 2 moth carpet and fabric killer sprays. I sprayed sofa and chair and all around the skirting boards. There were a good lot tonight but hopefully this will help.The smell seems to be driving them crazy. I am going to get a rentokill moth killer spray and spray it everywhere on saturday and go out for the day. Fingers crossed

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

Hi

Looking for some help. For the last few weeks we have had an infestation of Tiny moths in the living room and kitchen. it is open plan. I just keep hoovering them up. On any one night I could be hoovering up over 50. I have searched every where and cant figure out where they are coming from. Someone told me that they could be pantry moths , so I have cleaned out and washed inside all the cupboards and thrown out lots of food. I have hoovered everywhere under couches checked the top of presses thrown out the large rug and am at my wits end. Does anyone have any ideas. I took a picture of one of the little blythers if anyone can help with advice it would be much appreciated

Is there any chance that these moths are coming in from outside?
Your picture doesn't look like the usual brown house moth or even the white-shouldered one. Actually looks fairly like the diamond back moth.
Are you growing veg or plants indoors or just outside?
Have a look at this:
http://www.irishmoths.net/pages-moth/m-464.html

scholes

Rancid wrote: »

Is there any chance that these moths are coming in from outside?
Your picture doesn't look like the usual brown house moth or even the white-shouldered one. Actually looks fairly like the diamond back moth.
Are you growing veg or plants indoors or just outside?
Have a look at this:
http://www.irishmoths.net/pages-moth/m-464.html

Thats the exact same moth Rancid. I searched couldn't find it anywhere. Fair play to you . There is no windows open, unless they came in on potatoes or something like that. Only plant we have is an orchid. There wasn't as many tonight but i sprayed that carpet mpth killer and carpet freshener. Going into lenehans tomorrow to buy the moth spray killer. Going away for 2 days so going to spray the sh*t out of every room and go running for the weekend

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

Thats the exact same moth Rancid. I searched couldn't find it anywhere. Fair play to you . There is no windows open, unless they came in on potatoes or something like that. Only plant we have is an orchid. There wasn't as many tonight but i sprayed that carpet mpth killer and carpet freshener. Going into lenehans tomorrow to buy the moth spray killer. Going away for 2 days so going to spray the sh*t out of every room and go running for the weekend

Unusual moth to find indoors, definitely!
The host plants where they lay their eggs are listed as cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, swede, kale, basically the cruciferous veg. Given that they lay up to 100 eggs, it's possible they all arrived on a cabbage leaf!
You might get more info if you post in the Zoology forum.

Good luck with the spraying, hope you come back to a moth-free environment!

scholes

Rancid wrote: »

Unusual moth to find indoors, definitely!
The host plants where they lay their eggs are listed as cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, swede, kale, basically the cruciferous veg. Given that they lay up to 100 eggs, it's possible they all arrived on a cabbage leaf!
You might get more info if you post in the Zoology forum.

Good luck with the spraying, hope you come back to a moth-free environment!

Hi Rancid ,

Ended up going away for weekend. Sprayed 3 full cans of rentokill moth spray and there was still a gud few when i got back today but a lot of dead ones. there seemed to be a lot in between the velux windows. sprayed in between them , so heres hoping.

SmartinMartin

In the last 3 months I've found an infestation of these in 2 houses, on both occasions they were living in the creases in the carpeted stairs. Both houses had been empty for over 6 months.

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

Hi Rancid ,

Ended up going away for weekend. Sprayed 3 full cans of rentokill moth spray and there was still a gud few when i got back today but a lot of dead ones. there seemed to be a lot in between the velux windows. sprayed in between them , so heres hoping.

So I guess the spray worked and the ones you saw when you came home were the ones that hatched out after the spraying.
You need to find where the larvae are pupating... and vacuum over and over.

Hope you get more info in the Zoology forum.

scholes

Rancid wrote: »

So I guess the spray worked and the ones you saw when you came home were the ones that hatched out after the spraying.
You need to find where the larvae are pupating... and vacuum over and over.

Hope you get more info in the Zoology forum.

They seem to be only in the kitchen and living room and no carpets so all doors are being kept closed. going to get 3 more sprays today and spray again.

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

They seem to be only in the kitchen and living room and no carpets so all doors are being kept closed. going to get 3 more sprays today and spray again.

I'm sure you've checked the compost bin, indoor and outdoor one... it's the only other thing I can think of!

scholes

Rancid wrote: »

I'm sure you've checked the compost bin, indoor and outdoor one... it's the only other thing I can think of!

There seem to be a lot of them in the Velux window where the rubber seal is . I sprayed the sh*te out of each one. Place is destroyed with the spray. Going to have to repaint the kitchen at this stage. I am trying to block up any gaps around skirting with silicone also. Bloody nightmare. I checked brown bin but all looks ok and its away from the house also

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

There seem to be a lot of them in the Velux window where the rubber seal is . I sprayed the sh*te out of each one. Place is destroyed with the spray. Going to have to repaint the kitchen at this stage. I am trying to block up any gaps around skirting with silicone also. Bloody nightmare. I checked brown bin but all looks ok and its away from the house also

Are they trying to get out through the Velux window, I wonder?
Really all they do as moths is to mate and lay eggs, of course they need a suitable place or host to lay on.
The Nature and Bird-watching forum is another place you could try for info. Failing that, I think there's a facebook group Insects/Invertebrates of Ireland.
I've only ever had to deal with minor infestations of the normal clothes moths and the white shouldered moth, out of my depth with your fancy ones!! :eek:

scholes

Rancid wrote: »

Are they trying to get out through the Velux window, I wonder?
Really all they do as moths is to mate and lay eggs, of course they need a suitable place or host to lay on.
The Nature and Bird-watching forum is another place you could try for info. Failing that, I think there's a facebook group Insects/Invertebrates of Ireland.
I've only ever had to deal with minor infestations of the normal clothes moths and the white shouldered moth, out of my depth with your fancy ones!! :eek:

Thanks a million Rancid for spending the time to reply to my posts. It is very much appreciated. We are not as bad tonight but if all else fails, i think i might try these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fogger-Bedbugs-insects-Professional-Strength/dp/B01GK4BJWW/ref=sr_1_18_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1505245775&sr=8-18-spons&keywords=moth+killer+plug+in&psc=1

Rancid

scholes wrote: »

Thanks a million Rancid for spending the time to reply to my posts. It is very much appreciated. We are not as bad tonight but if all else fails, i think i might try these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fogger-Bedbugs-insects-Professional-Strength/dp/B01GK4BJWW/ref=sr_1_18_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1505245775&sr=8-18-spons&keywords=moth+killer+plug+in&psc=1

Good to know the numbers are down tonight... sounds like progress!

That Smoke Bomb should be very effective but I'm wondering if it will have any effect on any remaining larvae? Unless it can kill them too they'll just hatch out a few days later.