-- Grab EHS RSS FeedJamaica Plain, MA - Indian Meal moths
The frantic call was for clothes moths in their basement. Innundated & thousands was the desciption. It was an early morning appointment & with 24oz of Dunkin in me, I was up for the task. Ironically there was no exaggeration by the customer, the basement was a cloud of fluttering annoyance. The worst I have seen in my 21yr career! Turns out the were Indian Meal Moths, a food not fabric pest. Despite the denial of no food being kept in the basement my inspection found the source. An old 1/2 used bag of bird seed! Bag thrown away, pest problem SOLVED!
Moral of the story? Food to Indian Meal Moths can be non-human i.e. bird seed, dog food, potporri, etc. Keep it in air tight containers or better yet, throw it away if you have not used it since the Reagan administration!
George E. Williams Jr., A.C.E.
General Manager - Entomologist
Environmental Health Services, Inc.
Indian Meal Moths Eat non-Human Food too!
23 Sep 2009
