Pantry Pest Control in Toronto, Oakville and the GTA

Indianmeal moths are the most common moth in stored food at home. They are about 13 mm long, with wings that are cream to yellow near the body and coppery red to dark grey at the tips, and their larvae are whitish caterpillars, 8 to 10 mm long, that spin silk webbing through the food. The beetles are smaller: sawtoothed grain beetles are slender, flat and brown, about 3 mm long, and flour beetles are shiny reddish-brown, about 4 mm. Weevils have a long snout.

There is no off-season indoors. Indianmeal moths keep breeding year round in heated buildings, and sawtoothed grain beetles and drugstore beetles survive Canadian winters even in unheated ones. Warm weather speeds them up: in summer an Indianmeal moth goes from egg to adult in about six to eight weeks, and a sawtoothed grain beetle in three to four.

Most pantry pest problems can be cleared by the homeowner: throw out every infested package, vacuum the shelves and the cracks, wash them, and move dry goods into screw-top glass, heavy plastic or metal containers. Ordinary kitchen canisters and plastic bags won't keep them out. Call us if insects keep showing up after a thorough clean-out or turn up in other rooms, because that usually means a source hasn't been found yet, such as pet food, bird seed or a decoration.

The moth most often found in stored food at home, and found coast to coast in Canada. Only the caterpillars eat. They feed on the surface of the food and spin webbing through it, and when fully grown they often wander a long way from the food to spin a cocoon, which is why they turn up on ceilings and in other rooms.

• Foods: cereal, flour, cornmeal, rice, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, dry dog food and bird seed.
• Signs: webbing on the food, droppings, shed skins, cocoons and dead moths.

Slender, flat, brown beetles about 3 mm long, with six saw-like teeth along each side behind the head. They can't get into whole, undamaged grain, but they feed on flour, cereal, dried fruit, nuts, pet food and bird seed. They don't fly, and adults usually live 6 to 10 months.

Shiny, reddish-brown, flattened beetles about 4 mm long. The two look almost the same: the red flour beetle's antennae end in a sudden three-part club, while the confused flour beetle's widen gradually toward the tip. They infest flour, cereal, nuts, dried fruit, beans, spices and chocolate, and a large number can give flour a pinkish tinge and a sharp smell.

Small, dark brown beetles with a long snout that grow inside whole kernels of grain. The granary weevil, about 5 mm long, is common in farm storage in southern Ontario and can't fly. The rice weevil is smaller, 2.5 to 4 mm, with four reddish patches on its back, and it can fly. Look for rice, wheat, barley or pasta with small round holes where adults have chewed their way out.

Both are about 3 mm long, oval and light brown. The drugstore beetle has fine grooves along its wing covers, and the cigarette beetle's are smooth. Both fly, are drawn to light and will get into almost any dry food or spice. Cigarette beetles are most often found in pet food, paprika and chili powder, drugstore beetles in bread, flour, cereal and pet food. Adults chew holes in packaging as they come out.

Warehouse beetles are oval, about 3 mm long, with a brown and yellowish pattern. Their hairy larvae and the skins they shed are the usual sign, and any food with the larvae or their hairs in it should be thrown out. Spider beetles look like tiny spiders at first glance, with long legs and antennae, and are 2 to 4.5 mm long. They feed on almost any stored food, and several kinds live in Ontario, in homes as well as grain storage.

A few habits stop most new problems:

• Store dry food in screw-top glass, heavy plastic or metal containers. Cardboard, paper and plastic bags won't keep insects out.
• Use older packages before newer ones and opened before unopened, and try to use dry goods within two to four months.
• Don't pour new food on top of old, and wash containers before refilling them.
• Keep pet food and bird seed in containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Keep flour, grains and spices you rarely use in the freezer.