UC Master Gardener Jeannette Warnert advised on April 24 that spring cleaning should include attention to potential indoor pests in areas such as kitchens, pantries, garages, bedrooms, and closets. Warnert said pests can enter homes through infested food from grocery stores and may go unnoticed until insects like moths or beetles appear.
During a recent webinar, UC urban integrated pest management advisor Karey Windbiel-Rojas shared her experience finding webbing in chocolate stored at the back of her pantry. “I thought, ‘Oh great!’ but when I opened it up, I found webbing,” Windbiel-Rojas said. “I was bummed I didn’t get to eat that chocolate.” She also described discovering an infestation in an art project made with beans and pasta from her child’s preschool days. “I had to throw it away,” she said. “I should have known better.”
Warnert explained that common pantry pests include sawtoothed grain beetles and Indian meal moths, which feed on foods such as cereal and grains and can contaminate them with droppings or eggs. These pests may also be found elsewhere in the home feeding on items like potpourri or birdseed. Preventing infestations involves storing food in containers with tight-fitting lids and regularly cleaning shelves.
Other household pests mentioned by Warnert include clothes moths—which target natural fibers—cigarette beetles found in dried goods or tobacco products, drugstore beetles affecting pharmaceuticals and foods, psocids (booklice) attracted to humidity, silverfish hiding in damp spaces like bathrooms, and firebrats living near heat sources.
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Detailed information about dozens of indoor pests is available on UC IPM’s Pests of homes webpage.