How to recognize and get rid of moths in dried fruits

A small butterfly flying through your kitchen - This is a serious enough reason to start worrying about the safety of products. Most often, parasites feed on cereals and grains, and moth in dried fruits is also often found. These insects feed on the caterpillar stage, making small holes in dried fruits and wrapping themselves in a silk cocoon.

External characteristics

If you have observed the repeated appearance of butterflies for three weeks, then this is evidence that the infection is quite serious and you need to immediately take steps to eliminate insects.

The winged mole is no longer capable of causing any harm, since the oral organ in them reduces upon reaching puberty. Parasites are their larvae, which, having powerful jaws, feed quite intensively and accumulate energy reserves, so that upon reaching the adult stage they have the opportunity to reproduce.

Interesting fact! The absence of the proboscis is due to the fact that, reaching puberty, the moth loses not only the ability to eat, but also digest food. Therefore, they simply do not need this organ.

The head of the caterpillar has a brown tint. Usually about infection dried fruits and vegetables this kind of moth small neat nests and a thin cobweb around them will testify. Inside the nest there will be a larva.

Actions on the first detection of a pest

Moth does not appear on its own. Most often, you yourself bring it to your house with food, less often an adult can fly into a window or through an open door. As a rule, infection occurs due to violation of the storage conditions of the product, and this can happen both in the factory warehouse and in the store itself.

1. If you purchase dried fruits in their original packaging, then carefully check its integrity before purchase. In case of detection of at least one slightly opening, put such a product aside.
   

   Advice! The factory packaging is easiest to check for damage as follows - squeeze it in your hands, and if it starts to deflate gradually, then the seal is broken.

2. But since often dried fruits are sold "by weight", then upon arrival home they must be carefully sorted.
3. If you have not purchased dried fruits for a long time, and butterflies still appeared, then sort out the dried fruits that have been stored for a long time.
4. If you find at least one larva, then you need to throw away the entire batch of the product. The rest of the small caterpillars can hide inside the fruit, and you simply will not see it. In addition, the product will be infected not only by larvae, but also by eggs, and by throwing everything in the trash, you will be able to avoid contamination of other food products in your kitchen.
5. In the absence of any signs of fruit moth, the contents of the package must be transferred to glass jars and tightly closed with a lid.

We talked about moths in croup and the fight against it in detail in a separate article: How to get rid of cereal moth?

Advice! Do not buy dried fruits at bargain prices, as quite often the seller tries to sell precisely the infected goods at a discount.

Methods of struggle

To destroy food moths, you should first pay attention to gentle methods. It is not recommended to use insecticides in the kitchen immediately, as there is a chance of the chemical getting into food. First, try traditional methods that can not only get rid of pests, but also prevent their reappearance.

Heat treatment

After you throw away all infected dried fruits, the remaining fruits can be warmed up at relatively high temperatures. To carry out this operation, the fruit is freed from packaging and laid out on a baking sheet. In the oven, set the temperature to at least 50 ° C and not more than 70 ° C and warm the product for 3 hours.

At the end of the procedure, the fruit must be placed in glass containers with a hermetically sealed lid and put in the refrigerator or on the shelf in the cabinet. When you notice that adults are no longer appearing, food can be returned to its place of permanent storage.

Using improvised tools

For the second method you will need:

• soap solution;
• table vinegar;
• lemon, eucalyptus or peppermint essential oil;
• Bay leaf.

The process flow is as follows:

• hanging cabinets, bedside tables and pantry completely free from food and any items;
• using a small nozzle of a vacuum cleaner, process the inner surfaces of the cabinets;
• using a soft sponge dipped in hot soapy water to wipe the shelves, doors, hinges and corners of the furniture;
• containers intended for dried fruits must also be treated with soap and water;
• dry everything thoroughly and wipe it with vinegar, to which a few drops of essential oil should first be added;
• put a bay leaf on the bottom of each container.

Prevention

Having completely got rid of moths in dried fruits, it is necessary to think about preventive measures. To prevent the parasite from returning to your kitchen, you can do the following:

• in the kitchen, try to constantly maintain perfect cleanliness, which will prevent the appearance of not only moths, but also other insects;
• store food only in closed containers of glass;
• hoods and vents should be covered with a net to avoid the penetration of parasites from neighboring apartments;
• when you come home from the store, always check the food - sort out dried fruits, sprinkle cereals.

Now you know how to recognize fruit moth, remove it and prevent its reappearance. Remember that food parasites will fly only in the kitchen. If you notice small butterflies in the closet, then this is a completely different type of pest, which you can learn about from other articles on our website. For example, if you want to protect your winter wardrobe from small pests, we recommend reading the article: What means can protect a fur coat from moths?