Pest Prevention Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Loyal Termite & Pest Control

TAP® Asks and Answers

cellulose insulation in an attic floor

You do a lot to keep your home running smoothly. And, while we here at Loyal Termite & Pest Control are capable of handling a wide range of residential pest control situations, we would rather you not have to call for extermination in the first place. Wouldn’t it be better to have a constant pest defense system in your home, one that can kill a variety of insect pests while also saving you money and fostering sustainability? All of that’s possible with TAP® Insulation. But why would a pest control company install insulation? And what can our services do to make your home more comfortable and improve your quality of life? Let’s talk about it below.

TAP® Insulation Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How can TAP® Insulation kill pests?

A. The loose-fill cellulose is coated with a layer of Boric acid, and when pests come into contact with them it coats their bodies. Eventually, the mineral gets into their system when they groom themselves or each other, and since insects are unable to pass it, they eventually die of dehydration or malnutrition.

Q. What Makes TAP® Insulation eco-friendly?

A. TAP Insulation is made up of over 80% recycled materials, and the Boric acid that infuses the cellulose is a naturally occurring mineral. TAP Insulation also functions as a quality insulator, and since it allows your HVAC appliances to run less and use less energy, it lowers your household’s carbon footprint.

Q. How does TAP® save me money?

A. Installing TAP® will result in you paying less for your energy bills. And since it provides a near-constant defense from a wide variety of pests, you reduce the chance of having to pay for pest control treatment. There is, of course, the cost of installation. But TAP lasts almost indefinitely and very quickly pays for itself.

Q. Does TAP® kill rats, mice, or wildlife?

A. The concentration of Boric acid isn’t enough to kill pests larger than roaches, beetles or snails. Because of that, they won’t affect rodents or larger wildlife. That’s a good thing, as it means TAP poses no risk to you, your children, or even your pets!

Q. What do I need to do before installing TAP® Insulation?

A. Possibly nothing! TAP is easily applied over existing insulation. If your current material is damaged by rodents or moisture, you could take this as an opportunity to remove it and start fresh. Otherwise, you can easily install TAP over fiberglass or spray foam for added pest-killing protection.

Loyal Termite & Pest Control for TAP® Insulation

TAP Insulation is only one of the services we offer for our friends and neighbors in Eastern & Central Virginia. You may need something less preventative and more active. Do you have a pest infestation, be it rats in the walls or ants on the countertop? If that’s the case, we have the experience and skill set you need to end the infestation. And once your home is pest-free*, we have the strategies to keep that up for many seasons to come. Want to learn more and get your free quote? Loyal Termite & Pest Control can answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to get started!

common insects insulation

How TAP® Insulation is Changing Pest Control

As the weather gets chilly, it’s a good time to start thinking about preparing your home for winter weather as well as keeping out pests that want to get in out of the cold. Your insulation is a huge factor in your home’s internal temperature and energy bills. If it’s uncomfortable or drafty, or you experience infestations of pests and bothersome wildlife, you likely need more insulation. What if we told you that there is an insulation product on the market that can help keep you cozy and pest-free all winter long? There is. It’s called Thermal Acoustic Pest Contol insulation or TAP® insulation. At Loyal Termite and Pest Control, we install TAP® Insulation throughout Eastern & Central Virginia.

What’s TAP® Insulation?

TAP® Insulation is made from cellulose, an eco-friendly material commonly used as blown-in insulation, with one big difference. The cellulose used in this type of insulation is treated with borates, which are mineral salts extracted from the earth. While humans won’t be adversely affected by the borates in TAP® insulation, most insect pests will die after ingesting it. It kills a wide range of common insect pests, including:

Ants
Cockroaches
Stink Bugs
Termites

It only takes a few hours for one of our highly-trained technicians to blow TAP® insulation into your attic but once it’s done, it keeps working for decades and should never need to be replaced. In addition, it can be applied over any existing insulation you have.

What does TAP® Insulation do?

The capacity of TAP® insulation to kill insects is one of its main advantages. These pests attempt to nest inside the insulation, and as a result, become covered in a layer of boric acid. They consume the substance while grooming themselves, are unable to pass it, and as a result, the chemical accumulates in their bodies. They eventually die from dehydration or hunger, and because TAP® insulation never needs to be replaced, this cycle never ends.

In addition to being effective at killing insects, TAP® insulation is a genuinely efficient insulator. After initial installation, homeowners can save up to an estimated 30% on their yearly energy bills, and stay cozy in the winter and cool in the summer. TAP® insulation is one of the few insulations to be both UL Classified for safety and sustainability and Energy Star approved.

Loyal Pest Control is a Certified TAP® Installer

At Loyal Termite and Pest Control, our goal is to keep our customers in Eastern and Central Virginia pest-free* and we offer all types of pest control treatments to do that. But in our opinion, the best kind of treatment is prevention. TAP® insulation is a smart way to help prevent insect infestations in your home. This winter, keep warm, save some money, and worry less about insects in your home. Contact us for a personalized quote!

common insects insulation

Save Your Insulation from Rodents!

How do you know if you have a rodent infestation? The most common signs are evidence of poop piles or urine patches in and around the house. They may gnaw at your bagged food and stored

belongings, and when they’re at their most active you’ll hear them skittering about in your walls or above your head. If any of this sounds familiar, you need professional extermination services. We can send a rodent expert to clear out any size rat or mouse infestation that may be in your home, but that’s not all that needs to be done. Were the rodents around your insulation? If so, they’ve likely damaged the material.

Why are rats and mice attracted to your insulation? What do they do with it, and what can you to repair and prevent? At Loyal Termite & Pest Control, we can answer all these questions and more.

Rodents in Insulation

When mice and rats get into the home, they’re looking for a source of food and a place to nest that’s relatively undisturbed. The insulation in your walls and attic provide all of that. The most popular insulation material for rodents is fiberglass batting. It’s soft and warm, easy for rodents to bite into to eat or use for their nests. And even once you get rid of rodents in your home, the damage to the insulation remains. It won’t go away, and at that point, the safest and most cost-effective solution is to replace the insulation entirely.

There are no materials that are completely rodent-resistant. Boric-infused cellulose may deter larger pests, but there’s really no guarantee. What matters is that you don’t try and remove and replace the damaged insulation yourself. Rodents leave droppings wherever they nest, and it’s possible that their leavings are tainted with Hantavirus. Hantavirus is a potentially fatal respiratory disease that can be spread into the air if infected leavings are disturbed. That’s why we strongly suggest you leave any potential insulation replacement to the experts.

But do you have to wait for it to get to that point? What’s the best way to prevent rodents in Virginia?

Rodent Exclusion with Loyal Termite & Pest Control

What is rodent exclusion? It’s a way that pest control companies can stop an infestation before it starts. And it involves no magic tricks, just a thorough analysis of the potential vulnerabilities in your home. We can patch up holes and fill in gaps that rats and mice could otherwise slip in, leaving your home secure and your insulation unbothered. Rodent exclusion is only one step of our rodent extermination plan that’ll make sure homes in Virginia get pest-free* and stay there. We’ve been working in the area for over sixty years, and in that time we’ve developed the experience and skill set to handle the full scope of pest prevention and control.

Don’t wait until rodents leave you footing the bill on an unnecessary repair. To protect your insulation, and your home as a whole, contact Loyal Termite & Pest Control today!

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Common Fall Pests in the Home

Are you noticing an abundance of insect sightings in your home during the fall and winter? Unfortunately, it’s not your imagination — in fact, you may have a fall pest infestation brewing within your walls. It’s the result of pests trying to get out of the increasingly cold weather. Some of these insects and other creatures will migrate to warmer climates or burrow under debris, while others may decide that your home has just the perfect climate needed to thrive. This phenomenon is referred to as overwintering, and it’s important to notice warning signs before it gets out of hand.

It’s never fun when you find a resident of the Great Outdoors crawling on the countertops or in the corners of the room. What’s even worse, and what could cause even more damage, are the creatures that hide where you can’t see them. The pests most likely to take refuge here can include Asian Lady beetles, stink bugs, termites, wasps and rodents. Let’s explore more about these fall pests.

Asian Lady Beetle

Let’s say you find what looks like a ladybug, an orange-ish, reddish bug that may or may not have spots. If it’s larger than your usual garden darling, there’s a chance you may be looking at an Asian Lady beetle. And if you’ve found one, the odds are good of there being many, many more. Asian Lady beetles stick together in groups and use pheromones to communicate their location. That means that if one comes into your home to get out of the cold, the result can be a large infestation of fall pests. These bugs may not eat at your home’s structure or sting its residents, but their waste can stain as well as trigger an allergic reaction or breathing difficulties in sensitive individuals. You can prevent this, along with most other insect infestations, by making sure your home is sufficiently sealed from the elements.

Stink Bugs

It’s safe to say that no one is thrilled by the presence of a stink bug. The most common breed in the United States is the Brown Marmorated variety, which is an invasive species from Asia. These smelly squatters are flat and shaped like a shield, colored in mottled shades of brown and gray and sized around ¼” to ⅜”. They’re fond of quiet parts of your home like the attic or crawlspace, or anywhere else where they feel they won’t be bothered. And if they get discovered and feel threatened, they’ll release a deeply unpleasant odor that gives the bug its name. Because of that, it’s best to leave treatment to the professionals at Loyal Pest Control.

Termites

Termites are easily the most destructive pest in North America. They’re a serious problem, especially when considering that the annual cost of termite damage in the US is up to $30 billion. Termites, if you have them, are always trying to enter your house. But fall and winter is when subterranean termites – the most damaging species – tend to burrow deep into the ground to wait out the cold weather. So if you get hit with an infestation you may not notice until spring, and by then you’ll likely be faced with a costly repair and a mess of inconvenience. Once termites can get in your home, they will consume wood and anything else that contains cellulose. Signs of termites in your home may include blisters on painted surfaces, hollow-sounding wood, unexplained pinhole-sized holes and more.

Wasps

Most wasp colonies do not overwinter in the colder season, which leaves the workers to die with the oncoming winter. Fertilized queens, however, survive the cold outdoors in hollow logs, stumps or under leaves – or in certain structures, such as the attic of your home. Think right now: is your attic vent screened from the outdoors? If not, calling us to install one for you can prevent wasps and all manner of fall pests from making themselves comfortable without you knowing.

Rodents

Squirrels, roof rats and mice are all agile creatures and excellent climbers. You can see them making their way from branch to branch and across fence lines. With that in mind it’s easy to think that it wouldn’t be hard to get into your attic and make a nest. Luckily these rodents don’t tend to be very quiet. After some time you’ll hear them scratching or gnawing from up above or inside the walls. Those are both good signs that you have a rodent inside your attic or wall voids, and that means it’s time to call an experienced rodent exterminator like Loyal Pest Control

Experienced Exterminators in East & Central Virginia

Loyal Termite & Pest Control has been proud to provide the citizens of East and Central Virginia with quality pest control services for the past sixty years. From bedbugs to rodents, if it shouldn’t be there then we can help you get rid of it. That’s why, if overwintering has invited some unwelcome fall pests into your home, we’re here to help. Contact us now for a free quote!

fall pests lady beetles stink bugs termites Wasps

The Usual Late Summer Pests

The end of summer might seem like the start of a stretch of pest-free* living, but this is often far from the case. Several kinds of pests actually thrive in or are even built for the conditions of the late summer here in Eastern & Central VA. If you want to secure pest-free* living situations for the last portion of your summer, you have to take consistent and targeted efforts to discourage bugs and wildlife from hanging out around your property. Read on to learn about common late summer pests and what you can do to stop them with our expert exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control!

Pests That Love the Late Summer

Although late spring and early summer are the heights of pest prevalence, different kinds of bugs and wildlife are trying to break into our homes and businesses throughout the year, late summer included. We commonly see these pests during August and September in Eastern & Central VA:

Wildlife: Animals that hibernate during the winter do so to spend their summers out and about. We have to deal with raccoon, opossum, and squirrel problems every year.
Ticks: These parasitic pests breed in the late spring and early summer so that they can thrive for the rest of the hot season. Anytime you are around tall grass or dense vegetation, you have to watch out for ticks.
Bees and wasps: Bees and wasps are notorious for showing up in the summer when there’s food around. If you regularly barbecue outside or host frequent get-togethers, you might end up with a beehive or a wasp nest nearby.
Mosquitoes: If you let mosquito numbers build up around your property without taking any action, you could end up with a thriving population that lasts into the fall.

Preventing Common Late Summer Pests

Before taking matters into your own hands, it’s important to note that any serious pest infestation needs to be dealt with right away by a professional exterminator. However, if you want to get a head start on preventing the usual pest suspects of the late summer, add these tasks to your routine:

Look for still water: Mosquitoes lay their eggs in pools of standing water, so if you can find and get rid of any around your property, you can prevent them from establishing a breeding population. Make sure to check gutters, planter boxes, and any other receptacles.
Seal entry points: Gaps or cracks in roofing, siding, fencing, foundation, or around windows and doors can contribute to pest infestations. Install screens for your windows and doors or use a silicone-based caulk to seal holes.
Be careful with trash: Taking out your trash often and using bins that seal outdoors will help prevent bees, wasps, wildlife, and more kinds of pests throughout the year.
Keep a tidy yard: By trimming trees and shrubs, dealing with leaf piles and grass clippings promptly, and decluttering in general, you can reduce the chances of pests finding temporary shelters in your yard.

Summer Pest Experts in Eastern & Central VA

Whether you have a current pest problem that’s grown out of control or you want to get a head start on preventing these late summer pests, you can count on your local pest control company to help. Our technicians at Loyal Termite & Pest Control are licensed, certified, and well-versed in the particularities of pest seasonality in our region. We can put together an effective and environmentally-responsible pest control plan suited to the needs of your home or business. For a free quote, reach out today!

Bees mosquitoes opossums raccoons squirrel ticks Wasps

Ways to Repel Bees and Wasps Naturally

Virginia is full of great outdoor activities in the summertime. It’s also full of bugs. While most of these bugs are just annoying like cicadas or gnats. Some, like bees and wasps, can cause painful stings, and even allergic reactions when they cross our paths. Want to keep bees and wasps from ruining your outdoor activities naturally? Read on to learn how!

Which Plants Attract Wasps and Bees?

Because bees and wasps are pollinators, they’re attracted to flowering plants. But they’re not attracted to all plants equally. Here are some species that especially attract bees and wasps:

Black-eyed Susan
Honeysuckle
Lantana
Lilacs
Perennial Yarrow
Poppies
Pale Purple Coneflower
Sweet Fennel
Wisteria
Queen Anne’s Lace
Sedum
Snapdragon
Sunflowers

If you regularly encounter bees and wasps around your home and you have one or more of these flowers growing nearby, it’s probably not a coincidence. Consider moving them further away from your home.

Which Plants Repel Wasps and Bees?

Despite being pollinators, bees and wasps aren’t attracted to all flowers. The scent of the following plants are strong natural repellents for bees and/or wasps:

Basil
Citronella
Geraniums
Marigolds
Peppermint
Spearmint
Thyme
Wormwood

If you’re considering adding some flowering plants to the outside of your home, particularly near any outdoor spaces, consider these plants. They’ll help keep stinging insects away.

Your Food Attracts Bees and Wasps

Summertime is a time for eating food outside. Barbecues, picnics and ice cream cones are just some of the classic ways we enjoy food outside in the summer. But these also attract wasps and bees. To help lower the odds that a striped stinging insect will ruin your barbecue, take these precautions:

Don’t leave food or food-soiled items out. Throw out trash and pack up leftovers.
Speaking of trash, make sure the trash can lid is tightly sealed.
Keep your beverage closed or covered. Wasps are strongly attracted to sugary drinks.

Just as some plants repel bees and wasps, there are some foods that repel them too, including:

Bay Leaves
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cayenne Pepper
Garlic
Sliced Cucumber
Vinegar

Because these items are relatively inexpensive and can be found at most grocery stores, they make a convenient natural pest repellent. Just splice, sprinkle or pour into a convenient container and leave them around outdoor spaces like decks, porches or patios.

Make a Natural Bug Repellent with Essential Oils

If you’d like a little more control over the location and amount of pest repellent, this method may be for you. Stinging insects are repelled by the following essential oils:

Citronella oil
Clove oil
Eucalyptus oil
Geranium oil
Peppermint oil
Rosemary oil

You can make an all-natural bug repellent by combining essential oil and water. Use a ratio of two drops of essential oil per ounce of water. Put the mixture in a spray bottle and you’re ready to go.

Best Bee and Wasp Control in Eastern & Central VA

These natural pest repellents can be very helpful. However, if you have a major infestation or a nest on your property, it won’t be enough. Call Loyal Termite and Pest Control today. We’re experts at safely removing wasps and bees and have been providing industry-leading pest control in Virginia for 60 years.

Bees Wasps

Get Rid of Ants Infesting the Bathroom

Many different species of ants are active in Eastern & Central Virginia. Emerging throughout the year in response to rapidly changing weather conditions, ants seek food, water, and shelter inside our homes. More often than not, they find what they’re looking for in our bathrooms. But why is it that ants infest our bathrooms so often, and what can we do to stop them? Read on to learn all about bathroom ant prevention with the expert ant exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control!

Why Ants May Be Infesting Your Bathroom

The consistent sources of water and moisture make bathrooms attractive to all kinds of ant species. Water pools up on the floor, in your shower, and in your sink, creating easily accessible places for ants to hydrate as they continue their search for food. Carpenter ants are common offenders, breaking into bathrooms through water-damaged wood to get to your internal structural beams. That said, you’re likely to find any one of a long list of ant species crawling around in your bathroom this summer. Ants usually make it into our bathrooms through these entry points:

Holes near plumbing fixtures
Open doors and windows
Ventilation system openings
Cracks in the walls and foundation

The ants in your bathroom might have even traveled there from another room in your home, so it’s important to try to find the source of their trail to get ahead of the problem.

How to Get Rid of Ants in the Bathroom

Finding the beginning of your ant trail is actually the most important part of ant control. Taking out their colony is the only way to make sure your ant problem never returns. However, this can be very hard to do when ants so commonly sneak their way into our bathrooms through pipes, walls, and vents. This is why we highly recommend taking preventative measures early to prevent infestations. Try these at home:

Find and replace any water-damaged wood in your home
Move mulch away from your home’s siding and trim any plants resting against your home
Seal cracks on the exterior of your home with a silicone-based caulk
Make sure your windows and doors close all the way
Keep your bathroom well-ventilated

Best Ant Control in Eastern & Central VA

Finding an ant colony can be quite difficult, especially when your home is being invaded from multiple angles by more than one colony. If you need help getting rid of ants in your bathroom, reach out to your local ant exterminators. Our team at Loyal Termite & Pest Control can identify the reasons for your problem, correct any active vulnerabilities and protect your home from ants going forward. To learn more about how we do it and receive a free quote, contact us today!

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Avoiding Ticks & Lyme Disease

There’s not much creepier than finding a tick trying to lodge itself in your skin. However, the real danger associated with ticks is the potential for Lyme disease. Hiding in the dark corners of shaded woods and dense vegetation, ticks lurk waiting for the time to sneak up on potential hosts, possibly infecting them with bacteria that will lead to serious long-term ailments. To keep yourself safe from ticks and their diseases, it’s crucial to learn about their habits so that you can confidently keep away. Read on to learn more about ticks and Lyme disease in Eastern & Central VA with the tick exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control!

What You Should Know About Lyme Disease

Deer ticks, also known as blacklegged ticks, are the species of ticks that spread Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in humans and animals. People usually contract the bacteria when they are bitten by a deer tick nymph, which is a much smaller, younger stage of the deer tick’s life cycle. At only 2mm in length and equipped with anesthetic saliva, ticks (and especially their nymphs) deliver inconspicuous, stealthy bites that can have dangerous repercussions.

The first symptoms of Lyme disease show up as headache, exhaustion, rashes, fever, joint pain, and muscle pain. If you leave the condition untreated, though, these symptoms progress into nerve damage and arthritis. If you are experiencing any of the initial symptoms following a recent tick bite, talk to your doctor right away.

Strategies for Preventing Tick Bites

Ticks will bite and infect our pets with Lyme disease, too, so it’s important to learn how to avoid their bites. They often hide out in shaded and humid areas full of dense vegetation, waiting for small animals or human legs to cling onto. Remember these steps to stay safe from ticks:

Stay on the trail when hiking and prevent your pets from running off
Wear pants and long socks to keep ticks off of your legs while spending time outdoors
Conduct a tick check on yourself and your pets when coming back inside
If you find any ticks on your body or your pets, use tweezers, pinching closely to the skin, to remove them

Tick Control in Eastern & Central VA

You shouldn’t be finding ticks on your pets or your own body often. If this is a regular problem for you, you might be dealing with a high population of ticks around your property. In this case, have the tick exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control take care of them. We can perform a property-wide inspection, set up a barrier treatment to keep them away for months, and help you maintain your tick-free property. Contact us today for a free quote!

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Why Do Mosquitoes Bite Me More Than Others?

Are you one of the unfortunate people that can’t help but attract mosquitoes everywhere they go? If you aren’t a mosquito magnet yourself, you’ve probably met one, but have you ever thought about why mosquitoes choose some people over others? The truth is that we actually don’t have all the answers as to why. But we can help you strategically steer clear of mosquitoes in Eastern & Central Virginia this year! Read on for advice from the expert mosquito exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control!

Why Do Mosquitoes Bite Certain People More Than Others?

Although some people report being bitten by mosquitoes much more often than others, experts haven’t agreed on the unchanging qualities that make certain people more susceptible to their bites than others. However, we do know what signals they look for to detect nearby hosts:

Breath: The carbon dioxide that we release when we exhale is one of the main signals that mosquitoes use to detect hosts. Female mosquitoes actually have special receptors designed to detect carbon dioxide in the air! Excess physical activity and exercise near mosquito breeding grounds will make you a walking CO2 target.
Body odor: The more you perspire, the more of a target you’ll become for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can also pick up on floral perfumes and alcohol in your bloodstream, oddly enough.
Temperature: A high internal body temperature can be a strong signal to nearby mosquitoes. This is only made worse by wearing dark clothing or being physically active.

How Can You Avoid Mosquito Bites Reliably?

Sometimes it seems like going outside in the spring and summer is like signing up for mosquito bites. This doesn’t have to be the case! Here are the three best ways to prevent mosquito bites in Eastern & Central Virginia:

Keep watch for still water: Mosquitoes lay their eggs in pools of standing water, no matter how small. This is why mosquitoes thrive after a rainy spring! Look out for still water pooling in your gutters, planter boxes, or elsewhere—pour it out to prevent mosquito breeding grounds.
Choose clothing wisely: Dark colors trap heat, raising your body temperature and making you more attractive to mosquitoes. You can most reliably prevent mosquito bites by wearing long sleeved shirts and pants, but this is a hard choice to make during the warmer seasons.
Use insect repellent: An EPA-approved bug spray using DEET or picaridin will keep you safe from mosquito bites for hours. Make sure to apply as directed on the label! For those looking for all-natural alternatives, try citronella candles or lemon eucalyptus oil.

Get Help from Professional Mosquito Exterminators

Although a mosquito infestation can feel inevitable come spring and summer, you don’t have to deal with dozens of bites every year. Instead, reach out to the mosquito exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control. Our team can set up a long-lasting barrier treatment that cuts off the mosquito breeding cycle and keeps your home or business safe from mosquitoes for months at a time. Reach out today for a free quote or to learn more!

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Indian Meal Moth – Not a Pleasant Discovery!

An Indian meal moth infestation is a problem that most people don’t ever think about until it hits them. Of all of the pantry pests living in Eastern & Central VA, Indian meal moths are one of the most important to watch out for. These moths feed and breed in boxes of dry food products, often remaining concealed until their infestation’s numbers grow to numbers we have no choice but to notice. If you’re noticing small, white, larval insects or moths with maroon-tinged wings in your kitchen or cupboards, read on. The pantry pest exterminators at Loyal Termite & Pest Control are here to teach you more about Indian meal moths and how to get rid of them.

How to Identify Indian Meal Moths

The problem with Indian meal moths is that they are a bother in both their larval and fully-formed stages. You have to learn to identify both of them in order to act quickly to take out your infestation. Here are some ways to identify Indian meal moth larvae and adults:

Larvae: In their larval stage, Indian meal moths have cream-colored bodies with reddish-brown heads. As the larvae of moths, they have caterpillar type bodies, but they barely extend longer than 1 cm in length. You can find them writing around in stored grain products, cereals, flour, and similar goods in your pantry.
Moths: In the same places that you’ll find larvae and more, Indian meal moths will show up when your infestation has stuck around for a while. They have wings with distinct white and maroon sections and reach about 2 cm in length at the most.

Tips for Preventing Indian Meal Moths

The problem with pantry pests like Indian meal moths is that it’s hard to know you’ve gotten rid of all of them without tossing all of your food. The best control is prevention—here’s how you can keep them out of your home to begin with:

Check for damage on boxes of food that you purchase
Never leave food out in the open after eating
Use airtight containers to store your food
Keep your pantry doors closed whenever possible
Ensure that all of your door and window screens are intact
Seal any cracks or gaps that lead into your home

Need Pantry Pest Control?

If you can’t seem to get rid of the Indian meal moths in your home, reach out to your local residential exterminators. Our team at Loyal Termite & Pest Control knows the ins and outs of pantry pests in Eastern & Central Virginia, so we can help you identify what caused their arrival in your home in the first place and teach you how to avoid these problems going forward. Call us today for a free quote!

indian meal moths pantry pests