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MOTHS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

36 replies

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:44

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY THERE’S MOTHS INVADING MY HOUSE????

No, but seriously, is anyone else getting these little bastards flying about? There’s been so many in the house over the last week. Is it me or just moth season?!?

MOTHS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!
OP posts:
urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:47

I have just read online that they live in pantries and fabrics. 😳 Oh no.

OP posts:
FunnyOrca · 26/08/2025 21:50

Yeah, we were away for two weeks in July and they took over in our absence. I’ve been waging war ever since.

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:51

FunnyOrca · 26/08/2025 21:50

Yeah, we were away for two weeks in July and they took over in our absence. I’ve been waging war ever since.

This is the result I got from an image search. We mulched our garden a week ago so I’m thinking it could also be that?

MOTHS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!
OP posts:
urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:56

ScurryfungeSpuddle · 26/08/2025 21:54

Thanks. How would I place them around my home? They seem to be mainly in the bathroom and the kitchen.

OP posts:
longapple · 26/08/2025 21:56

Those don't look like clothes moths, they don't lay flat like that

Shoutinglagerlagerlager · 26/08/2025 21:58

The good news is that those aren’t clothes moths.

ScurryfungeSpuddle · 26/08/2025 21:59

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:56

Thanks. How would I place them around my home? They seem to be mainly in the bathroom and the kitchen.

You can buy the little 3-sided holder.

But we just blue tac them onto the inside of cupboards.

Or you could punch a hole in the top and thread a piece of string through.

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 21:59

longapple · 26/08/2025 21:56

Those don't look like clothes moths, they don't lay flat like that

Closer image! I’m not very good at deciphering insect species.

MOTHS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!
OP posts:
lljkk · 26/08/2025 22:02

I have some tiny months about... they aren't clothes moths but no idea what they are or why they are here.

DiscoNights · 26/08/2025 22:12

They're not clothes moths. Please don't kill them or put poison out.

Cadenza12 · 26/08/2025 22:14

They're not clothes moths. Can't you just catch them and put them outside?

Chemenger · 26/08/2025 22:20

Those are harmless. Definitely not going to munch your carpets or clothes. Put them back outside if you can.

Chemenger · 26/08/2025 22:21

Don’t have windows and doors open after dark, moths are attracted to lights (I’m sure you know this). It’s been a really good year for moths and butterflies, which is very good news.

changenameagain555 · 26/08/2025 22:23

Last year we had loads of moths in one room. Turned out they were breeding in the soil of a house plant!

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 22:24

Chemenger · 26/08/2025 22:21

Don’t have windows and doors open after dark, moths are attracted to lights (I’m sure you know this). It’s been a really good year for moths and butterflies, which is very good news.

indeed, we’ve been seeing hundreds upon hundreds of moth caterpillars and butterflies in our local park which has been very exciting for DD5! I did actually spot a moth caterpillar inside the house the other week too.

Will be shutting our windows!

OP posts:
MissScarletInTheBallroom · 26/08/2025 22:30

If they're in the kitchen then they might be pantry moths. We had an infestation a few years ago.

Pantry moths live and reproduce in food packets, particularly dry ingredients which come in paper or cardboard packaging. Bags of flour, boxes of teabags, cereal boxes, stuff like that.

Unfortunately you need to get everything out and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Almost literally, it is quite like checking your children's hair for nits. The moths are easy to spot, but what you are looking for are the larvae, which are like small, transparent maggoty things. I found them mainly in the creases of paper packets, like where the glue is on a previously sealed packet of flour. They're not that easy to spot.

We ended up basically throwing away a lot of stuff that was open, and then getting some plastic boxes with properly tight kids to keep unopened packets in.

I then went to IKEA and bought a load of big mason jars, the ones with the proper seals and the lever mechanism to open them. We now fill those with dry ingredients like flour, sugar, rice, pasta, tea bags, cereal etc and throw the packaging away.

Once you've done your inspection and got rid of any food where you find larvae, or anything that looks a bit dodgy, give the whole area a proper clean and spray it with vinegar, and only put back sealed packets and things you've decanted into proper containers.

longapple · 26/08/2025 22:34

Clothes moths fold their wings back when they land so they look like a line on the wall, not a butterfly shape.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 26/08/2025 22:34

Also, if you put as many of your ingredients as possible into properly airtight, transparent containers, if there are eggs or larvae in any of the ingredients you will soon find out where, because the moths will hatch into the container and be trapped there. So then you can take the affected container and get rid of that particular source. If you have a garden then chuck the contents onto a BBQ or bonfire and incinerate the little fuckers. Otherwise I'd probably fill the container with boiling water to kill them before draining and disposing of the contents in your food waste.

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 22:40

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 26/08/2025 22:34

Also, if you put as many of your ingredients as possible into properly airtight, transparent containers, if there are eggs or larvae in any of the ingredients you will soon find out where, because the moths will hatch into the container and be trapped there. So then you can take the affected container and get rid of that particular source. If you have a garden then chuck the contents onto a BBQ or bonfire and incinerate the little fuckers. Otherwise I'd probably fill the container with boiling water to kill them before draining and disposing of the contents in your food waste.

Are we sure that these are pantry moths? They don’t look much like the ones on Google. Apparently they are woodland dwellers.

OP posts:
MissScarletInTheBallroom · 26/08/2025 22:44

urgenthelp1 · 26/08/2025 22:40

Are we sure that these are pantry moths? They don’t look much like the ones on Google. Apparently they are woodland dwellers.

How big are they?

I may have jumped to the conclusion that they are pantry moths from your earliest posts.

VerbenaGirl · 26/08/2025 22:47

We have had loads more this year. Combination of spray from Lakeland on the carpets and cedar oil seems to have got rid of them pretty quickly.

HostaCentral · 26/08/2025 22:52

Those are outdoor moths OP. Don't worry, or burn your house down. They have just been attracted to your lights. Try to catch them and pop them outside. If they really bother you, hoover them up, but don't chemical everywhere, it's not great.

We had a privet moth in the other day. Look it up! Freaked me out, but it was also a thing of wonder. DH ushered it out. It was f'king enormous

longapple · 26/08/2025 23:09

Google suggests they're dusty wave moths

lljkk · 28/08/2025 20:00

mine weren't dusty wave moths... also, mine have disappeared. No longer in my house. Some other bug!

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