What are Stored Product Pests?
It is a surprise to most people when they open their pantry to retrieve a bag of potato chips or perhaps a bag of flour and a couple of moths fly out of the closet in to the kitchen. The fact of the matter is that many of the grain or flour products we buy have stored product pests such as indian meal moths, saw tooth grain beetles, or weevils already in them or on them. For example the insects sometimes deposit eggs on the packages of cereal, flour, dog food , etc; , the eggs hatch into larva, the larva then look for an opening which may be so small we would not see it without scouring the package with a magnifying glass. If the product is open for use and not resealed, when stored again the infestation will flourish and just like that you have moths flying out of your pantry or cabinet.
Pet foods are more likely to be the starting point of these stored product pest infestations because the processing, warehousing, and retail facilities are slightly less regulated than facilities handling food for human consumption. Control of stored product pests begins with finding and eliminating the infested product and then continues by making sure that all forms of the insect outside the product are eliminated. Treatment of cracks and crevices and cleaning up any spilled product in the area the product was stored are also important steps to complete control.
