Almost everyone faced the question of how to get rid of moths in an apartment forever, but the answer to it is not simple. Moths are called small insects from the category of butterflies. Basically known common moth, spoiling fur and wool.
Moth larvae at home feed on horny matter - keratin, which is part of the wool, pile of carpets, hairs of fur coats. Eating keratin, the caterpillar leaves waste products. For a day, the larva can make a through hole in a fur or wool product. In search of food, moth gnaws at various materials: paper, cotton, silk, synthetic materials.
The development of a moth consists of several stages: an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and a butterfly. Moths usually mean butterflies, but they are just less dangerous for things. Fur and wool eat caterpillars, so you need to fight with them and with the larvae that lay insects.
Folk and store remedies against moths
In the fight against moths, housewives use various means, both folk, proven over the years, and modern, purchased. Let's figure out what will quickly help get rid of harmful insects and will not harm the health of the residents of the apartment.
Folk remedies against moths
Our great-grandmothers used the well-known naphthalene to protect things from moths in the apartment, which effectively repels butterflies, but cannot destroy caterpillars and eggs.
- Fir and lavender essential oil serves as natural and safe for health from moths. Fur and wool fabrics from insects will be protected by cotton swabs soaked with these oils, dried lavender flowers, laid out among things in gauze bags.
- The smell of cedar wood and camphor will scare off the pest cabinet.
- A safe folk remedy for controlling insects is vinegar. Heat a few tablespoons of vinegar in a hot pan and cover for 10-15 minutes in a cupboard.
- Caucasian powder will relieve flying moth daisies - feverfew. They lay out the powder at the rate of 3-4 grams per square meter of area.
- To fight butterflies of the moth, tobacco, black pepper, strawberry soap, orange peels, indoor plants with a pungent aroma will come - geranium and coleus. Insects do not tolerate these odors.
Folk methods of fighting are safe for health, but plants are only repellents that repel butterflies. If a mole has settled in things, you can get rid of it only with the help of chemistry.
Purchased remedies for domestic moths
The traditional and well-known remedy for moths is briquettes and tablets, which include camphor and naphthalene. They are laid out on the upper shelves of the cabinets.
The antimole effect of naphthalene and camphor is based on heavy vapors of these substances, which, concentrating below, do not allow butterflies to lay eggs on clothes. The biggest plus of briquettes and tablets is the low price. But a large concentration of camphor and naphthalene can be dangerous to human health. This should be considered for people prone to allergic reactions.
On the shelves of stores there are many means to combat pest.
- "Antimol" or "Desmol" place 3-4 tablets in a closet.The duration of the drugs is about two weeks.
- "Molemor" protects things from insects for six months, but in one room no more than two plates can be used.
- Aerosols and sprays - "Suprosol", "Trap", plates - "Moskitol", liquid - "Supromit". The cabinet walls and clothes are treated with liquid substances, the effect of processing lasts several months.
- Raid Antimol can be purchased immediately in the form of a gel, spray and plates.
Manufacturers of insect repellents produce drugs without an unpleasant odor, destroying butterflies and moth larvae, protecting things from beetle bugs, carpet bugs, ants. The plates last up to six months.
Sections of moth are popular. It is enough to remove the protective tape and glue the section to the upper wall of the cabinet. Sections will fill the cupboard with the pleasant smell of lavender, chamomile or mandarin. Children's things will protect special sections of delicate action. Update the drug in the closet every 4-6 months. Despite all the pluses, the product is quite toxic: it cannot be stored near food and in places accessible to children, it is unacceptable to place more than two sections in rooms less than 15 square meters. m
Take the choice of anti-cancer drugs seriously: do not buy funds of dubious manufacturers, with damaged packaging. Chemicals of inadequate quality can be harmful.
How to get rid of food moth forever
In the kitchen
You can always get rid of food moth in the kitchen only with the help of the chemicals described above. Folk remedies are used after the complete removal of pests, for prevention.
After breeding procedures, be sure to treat the places where she lived. Wash cabinets containing insect-affected products, wash with warm soapy water, then with clean water. All slots and grooves are smeared with table vinegar using a thin brush. After that, the cabinet remains open until completely dry.
To prevent harmful insects from getting into the kitchen, store groceries in tanks or containers with tightly closed lids. If you have to store products in plastic bags, they should be well tied.
In cereals
If the moth is very struck by cereals, you can not eat them. If a small amount of food is damaged, you can try to sort it out, after drying it for 15 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 60 ° C or in the microwave.
On cabbage
Pest common worldwide is cabbage moth. After several bites of the insect, the head of cabbage cannot be stored, it begins to deteriorate quickly. The pest affects the plant in the beds.
Work on insect control is carried out in the complex.
- The remains of the crop are thoroughly smelled. Since pupae remain on them and on the weeds for the winter, which after plowing will not be able to get out.
- Make sure that weeds do not spread. If more than 10% of the crop is affected, or more than 4 caterpillars are on one bush, they are treated with insecticides.
- The most effective means of combating garden pest are Entobacterin, Lepidocide, Bitoxibacillin.
What if the larvae are not found?
It is a big mistake to think that a butterfly of a moth does harm to things, and by killing it, you can get rid of the problem. Almost always, we see moth males that fly into rooms. Females at this time lay eggs in closets and other secluded places.
Caterpillars that soon emerge from the larvae, and cause damage to products made of fur, wool and other natural materials. It is logical to fight not with butterflies, but to destroy larvae. If they could not be found, it is necessary to carry out regular preventive measures and prevent the occurrence of a pest.
- The first thing that caterpillars eat is dirty places on clothes, so before sending things for storage, thoroughly clean them from stains.
- Caterpillars and eggs are detrimental to direct sunlight and fresh air. Dry your things periodically and ventilate on the balcony. Half an hour in hot weather is enough for moth eggs to die.In less sunny weather, double the drying time to achieve the effect.
- If possible, quartz in cabinets and the room where things are stored.
- For the radical destruction of moth caterpillars, like cockroaches, dichlorvos-based products are used.
- Larvae die when exposed to low temperatures - freezing and evaporation. These methods are advisable to apply if there is no risk of damaging the product.
Types of Domestic Moth
In nature, there are more than forty species of moths. In houses and apartments you can find only a few of them. To choose the most effective method of struggle, it is necessary to determine their variety. The basis of the division into species is the habitat of the insect: some pests can be called domestic, others agricultural. Among the agricultural species of moth, a barley moth, apple and cabbage moth are especially distinguished. House pests include fur, furniture, grain and clothes moths. Consider the most common types of domestic moths that annoy every housewife.
Fur moth
A furry moth is a butterfly of brilliant brown-yellow or grayish color. The wingspan reaches 15-16 mm. On the front wings are two small dark dots and one large. Worm-shaped caterpillars of white color with a brown head and transparent skin. It feeds on natural furs, gnaws all coming across hair on its way.
Clothes moth
The size of the moth is larger than the fur coat. The wingspan is about 20-22 mm. Fore wings have a light yellow color; a violet-brown speck is located at the apex. A white fluff covers the head of the insect. The caterpillar looks the same as the fur moth caterpillar. Having settled in the folds of cloth or drape, the moth eats away the material from the inside, leaving an outer thin layer of matter. Therefore, often a defect of a thing is not immediately noticeable.
Furniture Moth
Furniture moth is distinguished by a brilliant light yellow color. The head of the insect is rusty yellow, the wings at the base are brown. The caterpillars eat the hair upholstery of the furniture, and until the pupa forms, they feed on wood, gnawing the tracks, following the pattern of the tree. Moth lays eggs on the lower part and corners of the furniture, in the crevices of wood; nests of white cocoons accumulate here. The full development of the caterpillar takes place in two months in the summer and about five in the winter. Furniture moth begins to pupate in February, the first years in the spring months, the second years of butterflies in July and August.
Cereal (Kitchen) Moth
In the kitchen, the housewives are annoyed by the grain moth. Cereal moth (kitchen) is a silver-white insect, the front wings are covered with a brown pattern, the span of the hind wings reaches 15 mm. Abdomen is gray. Each female insect is capable of laying about 100 eggs on rye, wheat, and barley grains. Butterflies fly out twice a year: in spring and in August. By weaving a web, the caterpillar combines several grains into a bundle. Moving, she carries this bundle along, gradually eating grains. The process of pupation occurs in the crevices of the walls, cracks in the floor. Cereal moth can attack dried fruits and various seeds.
Buffalo bug
One of the most resistant varieties of insects is carpet moth. Not only carpet covers, as the name suggests, but also leather, fur, and damages shoes, bags and other products made from natural materials. Larvae lays in inaccessible places deep in the pile of things. Carpet moths are not afraid of the smells of camphor and naphthalene, so the products they are based on are not suitable for its removal.
Fighting moths remains an urgent problem for housewives. Despite the variety of folk and store products, it is most effective to resort to prevention. Cleaning things before storage, regular drying and airing of products, proper storage of products - these simple methods will help reduce the likelihood of uninvited guests settling in the apartment and get rid of them forever.
