Small moths fluttering out of the kitchen cupboard, weevils in the flour, or tiny brown beetles in the spice rack? Our stored product insect control finds every source, clears the infestation and stops it spreading to fresh food, for homes and food businesses across Bexley and South London. I’ll identify exactly which insect you have and show you where it’s breeding, so you don’t end up throwing food away every few weeks. Call me for a price over the phone.
Stored product insects are moths, beetles, weevils and mites that live and breed in dried food. They feed on flour, cereals, rice, pasta, nuts, dried fruit, spices, chocolate, pet food and bird seed, in homes, restaurants, shops, bakeries and warehouses. Having them is not a sign of a dirty kitchen. In most cases, they arrive in food that was already infested when it was bought.
Pantry moths, usually the Indian meal moth, are small moths with copper or reddish-brown tips to their wings. The adults flutter around the kitchen, often at night, but the damage is done by their larvae: small cream-coloured caterpillars that leave silky webbing and clumps in cereal, flour, nuts and pet food. When they are ready to pupate, the larvae often crawl out of the cupboards and up the walls, which is why people find them on the kitchen ceiling.
Weevils are small, dark brown beetles with a long snout. Grain and rice weevils develop inside whole grains, so an infestation can be hidden inside a bag of rice or pasta long before you see the adults.
Small reddish-brown beetles, a few millimetres long, in flour, cake mixes, spices, dried herbs, biscuits or even tea bags are usually flour beetles or biscuit beetles. Biscuit beetles are one of the most common kitchen pests in the UK and are often found wandering on worktops and windowsills away from the source.
Flour mites are tiny, pale mites that make flour look as if it’s moving and can give it a musty smell. They thrive in damp conditions. Our mite treatment page covers other types of mites found in homes.
Most infestations start with a single packet of flour, rice, nuts, cereal, spices or pet food that already contains eggs or larvae. From there, the insects spread to other packets, crawling through folded tops and chewing through thin paper, cardboard and plastic packaging. Pet food and bird seed stored in the kitchen, garage or utility room are very common sources, and so are bags of flour or grain pushed to the back of a cupboard and forgotten.
Stored product insects are not known to spread disease, and eating a few by accident is unlikely to harm you. However, infested food should be thrown away. It is contaminated with the insects, their droppings and shed skins, and keeping it in the house means the problem will carry on.
Empty the affected cupboards completely and check every packet, including unopened ones, pet food and anything stored elsewhere in the house. Throw away anything with insects, larvae, webbing or clumps in it, and take it straight outside. Vacuum the shelves, corners, hinges and cracks, then wipe everything down. Food you want to keep can be frozen for a few days to kill any eggs, then stored in glass jars or sturdy airtight containers rather than in its original packaging.
If the problem returns after a big clear-out, there is usually a source that hasn’t been found: a forgotten bag of bird seed in the shed, pet food in the garage, a packet of spices in another room, or larvae hiding in cracks and shelf-pin holes in the cupboards. Pantry moth larvae in particular can travel several metres from the food to pupate, so they can re-infest the kitchen from places you wouldn’t think to look.
We start by inspecting the kitchen, larder, utility room and anywhere food or pet food is stored, to identify the species and track down every source. I’ll show you what I find and explain what needs to be thrown away and what can be kept.
We then treat the cupboards, shelves, cracks and crevices where larvae and adults hide, and use monitoring where it’s useful, such as pheromone traps for pantry moths, to check that activity has stopped. Treatment is carried out over our three-visit programme, which allows us to catch any insects that emerge after the first visit.
For restaurants, bakeries, cafes, food shops and warehouses, stored product insects can mean lost stock, customer complaints and problems at environmental health inspections. We inspect storage areas, identify the source, treat the premises and advise on stock rotation and storage to stop it happening again. Our commercial pest control contracts include regular inspections to catch activity early, and our specialist services page covers the rest of our specialist work.
We cover all of Bexley and South London, from restaurants and food shops in Peckham to homes and businesses around Kingston upon Thames and Eltham.
It depends on the species, the size of the property or storage area and how widespread the problem is. Call us with a few details and we will give you an estimate over the phone.
No. Pantry moths only feed on dried food. If you are finding holes in clothes, carpets or rugs, you are dealing with clothes moths, which our moth control page covers.
Their larvae can chew through thin plastic, paper and cardboard packaging, which is how they spread between packets. Glass jars and sturdy airtight containers keep them out.
Not while there is food for them. Stored product insects keep breeding as long as there is a food source, so the infestation usually grows until every source is found and removed.
Once the sources are removed and the cupboards treated, activity usually drops quickly. Our three-visit programme lets us check that no new moths or larvae are appearing.
Rentokil-trained and Level 2 certified, so you know you’re in safe hands.
We don’t just show up, treat, and leave. We walk you through exactly what we found, why it happened, and what we’re doing to fix it.
Pests don’t work 9 to 5, and neither do we. We’re available when you need us most.
We are Level 2 certified technicians, fully insured, and members of BPCA, BASIS Prompt and RSPH. You’re in safe, qualified hands.
Hundreds of satisfied clients across South London have trusted us to get the job done right, and we back every job with a satisfaction guarantee.
We’re not a faceless national company. We’re local, we care about our community, and we treat every property as if it were our own.
Call us or fill out the contact form. We’ll assess your situation and give you a straight, honest estimate over the phone.
Our technician visits your property, carries out a thorough on-site inspection, and begins treatment right away.
We carry out a 3-visit treatment programme to make sure the problem is fully resolved, not just temporarily patched.
Job done. Your property is protected, and you’ll know exactly what was done and why every step of the way.
Same-day response available
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