Annoying little moths

[DoYouKubuntu]

For the last several months I've been plagued by these annoying, little, light-brown moths in my house--and I don't know why! They're very small; most are less than 1/6" long. They're seen in pretty much every room, except my mom's--its door is always kept closed now, and I rarely ever go in there. But they're NOT where you'd most expect them, i.e., I almost never see any in the kitchen, but they're the worst in the bathroom. There is *NO* food in there. None. Nothing.

Years ago, and in a different house and state, when we had a parrot and parakeets, similar moths would appear out of their food (bird seed). And, yes, I do have bird seed in the house, both wild bird seed and black oil sunflower seeds, for the peafowl...er, I mean, for the songbirds outside...but there are NO moths in or near the bird seed. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think I've even seen a moth in the room where I keep the bird seed.

Any ideas on why these annoying little critters are in my house? And what to do to get rid of them? I don't use anything nasty/toxic on my property, indoors or out, so it needs to be a completely safe, non-toxic method. (I have five rescue cats who are strictly indoors...and you'd think, between the FIVE of them, at least ONE might show some interest in 'hunting' these little moths, right? WRONG!)

[notabug]

Try placing cedar around the food sources. Do a search on "cedar balls" and you'll find plenty of places to buy and different shapes. I like the balls for cabinets with solid shelves and blocks with hangers for wire shelves.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Try placing cedar around the food sources. Do a search on "cedar balls" and you'll find plenty of places to buy and different shapes. I like the balls for cabinets with solid shelves and blocks with hangers for wire shelves.

Thanks, I'll take a look and see about that. But, again, it's mystifying because they're *NOT* in or near any food sources.

[DoYouKubuntu]

My moth is the smallest

Your "moth" has been driving me nuts for years!

From your tales I assume they are more interested in water or moisture than what we typically consider food.

That's been my best--and only--guess, but even it doesn't make a lot of sense. That's because I have plenty of water available OUTSIDE (birdbaths, fountains)--so why bother coming in?

[TWPonKubuntu]

Do you have any houseplants? If so, check them, under the leaves and in the soil for an infestation.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Do you have any houseplants? If so, check them, under the leaves and in the soil for an infestation.

No--I'm notorious for killing off houseplants...which is bizarre, because OUTDOORS my green thumb is legendary! Oh, wait, I do have one; it's a Christmas cactus plant (that I've managed to keep alive for about 4 years now! ) It's in the kitchen window--and there are no moths in there.

[oshunluvr]

http://www.getridofthings.com/pests/...-rid-of-moths/

[DoYouKubuntu]

http://www.getridofthings.com/pests/...-rid-of-moths/

Thanks for the link! Its info looks really good and helpful.

ETA: I've ordered a couple of pheromone-based, non-toxic traps from Amazon. In a few days, HOPEFULLY, I'll have some good news to report!

PS When I got up this morning, I found MORE critters in my house: ants. Bazillions of them. This happens, sometimes, when the temperature gets pretty high. They're in the kitchen, and I've already done my routine of wiping up as many as I could with a wet paper towel spread with dish detergent, followed by a spray of non-toxic, safe around food/pets/children Orange Guard. Stay tuned...

[DoYouKubuntu]

Last night I received the pheromone-based moth traps I'd ordered. I took the package to the kitchen so I could cut the tape with scissors--and all of a sudden I started swatting at moths. I said to myself, "WTF?! there are NEVER any moths in here! what's happening?!" And then...duh...it dawned on me--they were swarming to the package that had the traps in it! I was not expecting that.

I bought two different brands/types of traps, since I had no idea which might be better, for a total of five. I got all of them set up and then put them around the house in the problem areas. Oh my goodness! This morning, not a single FLYING moth anywhere to be seen. I'm impressed.

[SecretCode]

Great news!

... I think a mention of the product name would be acceptable here

[Simon]

Hate to tell you they come back. We had some "Flour Moths" invest our place over a year ago. They ride into your home on birdseed, pet foods, or the food you are eating right now! :P

Here is what we had to do;

Go look in the the area where you store your dry foods. Empty out everything from the pantry. Wash area down with bleach and water. Place your foods, (except canned and bottled), into plastic sealed bags. You are going to have to do this for sometime. The bags will not kill off the moths but will let you know which products are infested. Because you will actually see new live hatchlings in the bags. Of course, you will want to throw them away. We had some wheat bread that I was eating with yummy moth eggs added at no charge!

[DoYouKubuntu]

Great news!

Indeed it is! I am so pleased.

... I think a mention of the product name would be acceptable here

You bet. The first one is Natural Mottlock Moth Traps and the other is Springstar S1524 Jumbo Clothes Moth Trap. Based solely on how many moths they've trapped so far, the former seems to be the more powerful of the two.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hate to tell you they come back. We had some "Flour Moths" invest our place over a year ago. They ride into your home on birdseed, pet foods, or the food you are eating right now! :P

Thanks for the input, Simon, however mine were not food moths. In fact, the kitchen was one of the rooms that I almost never saw any of these little moths in. As noted in my OP, the BATHROOM [of all places!] was the most heavily affected, followed by my bedroom, then a few here and there in other rooms. But really none in the kitchen. Also, based on the link oshunluvr provided, I read up on the various types of moths, and I definitely didn't have food moths.

[SecretCode]

Yes, yours sound like clothes moths.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I had a minor ant problem in my study in my house in South Africa. Not unbearable ... but annoying to have them walking across the keyboard and around the monitor.

(hi Teunis!)

Eventually I got some ant traps - a honey-like syrup that supposedly the workers would take back to the nest. I put down two traps.

Nothing. Occasionally an ant would check them out, but no more so that anything else.

The next day: nothing. I looked at the instructions. "Leave in place for 2-3 weeks."

The next day: a massive column of ants marching from the tiny hole above one window that was clearly their main entrance, via one trap which was on top of a bookshelf, down the bookshelf, to the other trap - clearly, taking the bait back to the nest. All very neat and organised. Hardly any ants anywhere else.

Yes! It's working! I thought. This went on for a few days, then started to thin out a bit.

Then one morning I went into the study ... dead ants everywhere, evenly spread out over the entire floor and all over the bookshelf.

[Qqmike]

Along these lines, whenever I see ants making their home out in the yard or driveway, I leave them be! If they are happy there, chances are they won't come into the house for anything. For two seasons now, it has worked or it is a coincidence. I was told this applies to mice, too. And I leave spider alone when I see them in the house (except for the poisonous Black Widow type or Brown Recluse)--they catch all kind of insects for me.