Pasta Bugs

Updated on April 05, 2011
L.R. asks from Olympia Fields, IL
12 answers

Hello Mamapedia Members, after many years reading your wonderful questions and answers, I finally have a question which needs some help! My spouse and I are at our wits end with Pasta box bugs. I am not sure of the correct name. We tried placing all boxes in a bin in order to keep them off our shelf in pantry (not a very good idea) We cannot figure out if the bugs are already in the rice, macaroni, or any other pasta type material or if they breed inside the boxes once they are placed on shelf in my pantry or cabinet. Any help you can provide and how to clean my shelves after disposing of boxes (we tossed out a pretty good number of boxes this week and vacuumed pantry floor and tossed vacuum bag out with the garbage pickup) and what steps we might take in the future to put an end to this disgusting yucky pest? Thanks L.

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J.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

;

4 moms found this helpful

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

You may have bought something with weevils already in it, or you may have had pantry moths lay eggs and have mealworms (pantry moth larvae).
Look for sticky brown blobs on the walls and ceiling of your pantry - those are moth egg sacs. You will need to get rid of them.

Whether it's weevils or mealworms, the only way I've found to get rid of them is to throw out all the grain-based products in the pantry - rice, cereal, pasta, dry beans, flour, corn meal. Empty the pantry, and scrub it from top to bottom with vinegar. When you bring home new grain products, put them in airtight containers.

6 moms found this helpful
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T.S.

answers from Sacramento on

I HATE THAT!!!

The bugs are probably in your flour etc as well. Apparently the eggs are on wheat before it's harvested. If your pantry is pretty warm and/or it takes you a long time to get through everything, they hatch... but once your pantry is infested, it's hard to get rid of them because they could be laying eggs ANYWHERE.

Try taking everything out of the pantry. Wash all the shelves, vacuum corners and ceiling as well. When you get new dry-goods, put them in the freezer for a couple of days before you put them in the pantry, and it might be helpful to put EACH box/bag in a ziplock bag (individually).

I fought a battle with pantry moths for several months, but seem to have it under control now.

HTH
T.

4 moms found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

Ewwwwwwwww....LOL not at you but with you........You did the right thing. We had the same issue ugh......Do the bugs fly? Ours were like moths...and yes they tend to come with the rice packaging sometime...We had a major infestation and did everything you did but also had to call Terminex. They sprayed and gave us some sticky traps designed for these bugs...All of our tactics worked. If you still have the issue call your local pest control.

3 moms found this helpful

C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

Oh L.-

I feel your pain!!!

I had that issue a few years ago...and YUCK!

At one point I was thinking I should figure them in a protein....(JOKING!!!!)

Mine were the 'moth' variety...and I cleaned everything out of the pantry...invested in some air tight plastic containers...and got these moth pest sticky traps at lowes (they contained a pheremone that attracted them) and I put up several near the pantry...

It took several months...but so far...so good...

Best Luck!
Michele/cat

3 moms found this helpful

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

Ok this is gross, but....

I actually did a report on this when I was in college. The bugs (well their eggs) are already in the pasta. It comes from the plant that way. Since plants make hundres of thousands of different brands of pasta, I would maybe look into this and switch all together. If you PM me what brand it is I maybe able to help you out as to what brand to buy where you will more than likely not have this problem.

2 moms found this helpful
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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Been there done that too. You need to wash everything, boxes, shelves cans, bottles, walls, ceiling, floor. What makes this so hard is you can't use inscectide around your food. I would call the store where you bought this stuff and tell them you want a refund.
I put all of my pasta and rice products in plastic containers, tupperware, old ice cream buckets etc. The bugs can't breath and if you get them in one product the plastic containers help to prevent them spreading to your other food. Sometimes you can put the box or bag the product came in right in the plastic container, that way you don't lose any instructions or receipes.
Be sure to check your cereal, they get in there too. Oh I even got them in jello.
If you put a handful of pasta or rice in a bowl of hot water and little black things float to the top --that item is infested too.

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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

Hi Lori,
When you have the bugs, these are great ways to get rid of them. Once they are gone, Reverend Ruby's advice of storing them in REAL Tupperware containers is right on. However, do not store the bag inside the container. Bugs are attracted to the glue in the boxes and the bags that hold everything we buy together and will lay their eggs in the glue. You can cut the package out and tape the directions to the outside of the Tupperware container. For more information, feel free to contact me. I would be happy to help you. Thanks! www.my.tupperware.com/jenniferpetricig

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V.L.

answers from Chicago on

Funny this happened to us for the first time about four months ago. Thing is it was only in the one box and didn't spread to anything else in the cabinet. You may find that you are as lucky as we were. I just tossed them out as soon as I noticed it and never saw them again.

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J.S.

answers from Chicago on

We had the same problem a few months ago! Threw out the flour, rice, beans and pasta which were all stored in the same cabinet. Washed all the cabinets out. Thankfully, it was confined to only the one. After reading a bunch of articles on the internet, I now keep everything in the freezer!! No more bugs!
Good Luck!

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J.

answers from Chicago on

It takes at least a few weeks to get rid of them. During that time, you have to either throw everything away, or keep it in the fridge/freezer. You can buy a kit (for pantry moths) at the hardware store that will attract them and then they get stuck and die. That's the best way to make sure they are gone before you put your food back.
Good luck!

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