[hheath541]

These guys have taken up residence in one of my cupboards. I'm used to seeing them outside in the grass. I know they're harmless, but that doesn't mean I like the idea of them hanging out with my food.

Any suggestions on how I can make them move out? I'd rather not use chemicals, if I can at all help it, because this is where I keep most of my food.

[KISS]

Might be this: Mystery Solved: Brown Prionid aka Giant Root Borer

I ran into a few in a couple of trees. They chew wood very destructively. I need to fix the trees.

Try Boric Acid. Boric acid is used for cleaning the eye mixed with water. It sounds bad but it isn't. It's also found in Roach pest controls as the ONLY ingredient.

[gnahcd]

That is an Indian meal moth. They are pantry pests and are often found infesting stored cereal, grains, nuts, etc. Look for boxes with small holes and the product which will be contaminated with webbing. Dispose of contaminated product in the trash outside and store uninfested product in plastic or glass containers. Colorado State Extension has a good website - Indian Meal Moth

[Catsmine]

I concur that is a picture of an Indian Meal Moth. Let me expand on cleaning out your pantry. Some boxes of dried foods will simply look old and worn, rather than have visible holes. Inside those boxes you will likely find cobweb looking material. The amount of wheat and corn flour used in today's food products means you need to look at every single package in your pantry.

Rather than use insecticides, a common control method is to use a pheromone attractant to draw the males into a glue trap so they cannot breed. These traps, with phermones already in the package, are available in the lawn and garden section of most large hardware stores. Check the label to be sure they attract Indian Meal Moths.

[hheath541]

thanks. Looks like I'm cleaning out the cupboard and keeping my dry goods in the fridge from now on.

the bugs themselves don't bother me. It's having them around my food that's the problem. I'll protect my food, first, and THEN worry about getting rid of them. Maybe I'll just sic the cats on them ^_^

[Catsmine]

I'm a big fan of zipper bags for non-refrigerated storage.

[hheath541]

Well, right now, I can't afford to buy things I don't ABSOLUTELY need. It won't hurt my dry goods to live in the fridge, for awhile. I don't have a lot of things that need to go in there, anyway.

That cupboard is where I keep unopened jars, pasta, cereal, and other dry goods. The jars and cereal are fine (I get the bul bags of cereal that zipper shut). It's pretty much just the boxed goods I need to worry about.

My guess is that it was the opened box of instant potatoes that drew them there. That will get tossed, and I'll toss anything else that doesn't have a plastic bag sealing up the contents. I can deal with losing food. I'd rather not deal with eating bugs.

[Catsmine]

Let me repeat. Examine Everything Closely. Including under the lip of jar lids. If you have adults in the pantry you've had at least one hatching. Cocoons can be anywhere.