# Any remedies for flies/grubs



## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

The past week, I have found small grubs, and tiny moth like things in one of my kitchen cupboards. Has anybody had this problem? and got any idea of remedies I could buy.
My cupboard is tiled inside, with marble shelves.

My cupboards had previously been clean,normally emptied and cleaned with hot soapy water with a tiny bit of bleach in. I store crockery, pans, and some dry and tinned food in that particular cupboard.
After finding the grubs and moths/flies, I emptied the cupboard,I scrubbed the inside with bleach and lemon solution, let that dry, then wiped the inside again with white vinegar, and then bloomin things are still there 
I am wondering if these 'things' were in a cereal packet originally? although any cereal which is opened is clipped with a bag clip. 
I have even plugged in an electric UV fly zapper, but these crafty little things are reluctant to be electrocuted.
Any advice to to trap and eradicate them very welcome.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

fergie said:


> The past week, I have found small grubs, and tiny moth like things in one of my kitchen cupboards. Has anybody had this problem? and got any idea of remedies I could buy.
> My cupboard is tiled inside, with marble shelves.
> 
> My cupboards had previously been clean,normally emptied and cleaned with hot soapy water with a tiny bit of bleach in. I store crockery, pans, and some dry and tinned food in that particular cupboard.
> ...


I've got these this year for the first time since we've lived here - you get little grubs which look like maggots - they turn into the moths

you can get fly paper type things in Mercadona - look for







ANTIPOLILLA ALIMENTO TRAMPA, - you get 2 in a packet - put them inside the cupboards - I usually put one on the tiles outside too, to catch any which manage to get out of the cupboard - they are special for food moths & safe near food

having cleaned the cupboards, as you have, some people suggest throwing out all the open dry food, too


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> I've got these this year for the first time since we've lived here - you get little grubs which look like maggots - they turn into the moths
> 
> you can get fly paper type things in Mercadona - look for
> 
> ...


Thank you, I'll be off to Mercadona tomorrow, It is peculiar, we have had this house for just over 3yrs now, only used it for holidays till last September, and it is the first time we have had problems with these things.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

fergie said:


> Thank you, I'll be off to Mercadona tomorrow, It is peculiar, we have had this house for just over 3yrs now, only used it for holidays till last September, and it is the first time we have had problems with these things.


as I say, this is the first time I've seen them in 9 years here - OK we've moved around the town a bit in that time, but I've never seen them before this year

maybe it's just a bad year


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## Iberican (Feb 18, 2012)

I'm in France and haven't had the little moths and their grubs in cereals this year but have had them in the past. They seem to be able to get into almost anything and I've even found their grubs/maggots in unopened cellophane packets of cereals! Tupperware doesn't seem to keep them out.

I resorted to putting cereals (flour, rice, grains, breakfast) in plastic bags very tightly tied inside tupperware lid on tight or glass jars, lids tightly screwed. They still got past the first barrier and occaisonally right into the cereals! You can't always see the little devils but the cereals become a little powdery and slightly clingy/sticky, so you know they've been invaded.

Maybe they're a good source of protein and do us no harm at all if we eat them - but it's not a nice thought! Best remedy I found was at my local health shop in Royan - sachets of natural herbs made in Auroville (ecological village) in India. Brand name Colibri - Lavender fragrance or Sandalwood. Both contain about 15 different herbs and they've kept the little bxxxxs out of my food cupboards and wardrobes with 100% success for the past 2 years - yes, the same sachets, I haven't changed them.

Great believer in the power of herbs!


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## neddie (Jun 11, 2012)

......Borax is often used to control all sorts of pests. I suggest you Google the subject....there are all sorts of recipes as well as some warnings.


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

I get them all the time despite vigorous cleaning. They are from the weevil family and like anything that is grain based (pasta, rice, flour) You need these sticky things as mentioned above. Make sure everything grain based is in airtight containers or else they make a web type thing in it where the grubs grow.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

These moths are very common, we get them every year and put up fresh antipollita stickies from Mercadona. Several we have had to replace part way through the season this year because they got too full. Try to put them where people will not catch them with clothes or body parts because they stick like sh*t to a blanket.

We had one of the local lizards try to get at the moths and got him/herself stuck. After some difficulty we managed to prise him free without damage but had to sweep up some dust on the patio to place on to dry up the stickiness on his belly and feet so that he could move around without being welded to the tiles. 

Out of interest - the lizards do bite but fortunately don't have teeth. After I had freed him from the sticky, he clamped his jaws onto one of my fingers and it was the very devil to get him to let go so that I could put him onto the dust.

BTW - these are not weevils but moths, the weevils that go for starches are something different and used to appear occasionally in UK.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

What an interesting thread. At times I am plagued with the little critters but have always assumed that I have brought them into the house in packs of food. Any open pack is always sealed up well with a bag tie so I don't understand how anything can get past that.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

JohnBoy said:


> What an interesting thread. At times I am plagued with the little critters but have always assumed that I have brought them into the house in packs of food. Any open pack is always sealed up well with a bag tie so I don't understand how anything can get past that.


The larvæ of the moths can eat their way through thick plastic bags. We had some unopened bags of Sainsburys porridge oats which have thicker than normal plastic bags and they chewed their way through the bag and spun coccoons inside. One could even see the holes where they had chewed through.


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## jules 123 (Apr 26, 2011)

baldilocks said:


> These moths are very common, we get them every year and put up fresh antipollita stickies from Mercadona. Several we have had to replace part way through the season this year because they got too full. Try to put them where people will not catch them with clothes or body parts because they stick like sh*t to a blanket.
> 
> We had one of the local lizards try to get at the moths and got him/herself stuck. After some difficulty we managed to prise him free without damage but had to sweep up some dust on the patio to place on to dry up the stickiness on his belly and feet so that he could move around without being welded to the tiles.
> 
> ...


Found those images quite amusing .... and yes, I've had the weevils in the UK. Now I purchase a small bag of flour as needed and then throw it.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> These moths are very common, we get them every year and put up fresh antipollita stickies from Mercadona. Several we have had to replace part way through the season this year because they got too full. Try to put them where people will not catch them with clothes or body parts because they stick like sh*t to a blanket.
> 
> *We had one of the local lizards try to get at the moths *and got him/herself stuck. After some difficulty we managed to prise him free without damage but had to sweep up some dust on the patio to place on to dry up the stickiness on his belly and feet so that he could move around without being welded to the tiles.
> 
> ...


this the reason I don't mind lizards/geeckos being around and would never kill/harrass or disturb them. However, sometimes, when you're reachng for a plastic from the pile and the pile of bags move, it's hard to decide if the movement is due to a geecko or "hissing sid",even then I leave the snakes alone and only charge the rental at "all the rats and mice you can eat"

Back to the OP's point: never came across these grubs, but we store sugar and flour in the fridge. 
I willl never forget(usually when I have had a unwise, latenight cheese and pickle sandwich and the memory surfaces around pre dawn hours) the time I opened the cupboard and a bag of flour, was trying to do an impersonation of John Travolta in "saturday night fever"....... worst part...I was sober at the time.

The bag of flour went into a carrier bag, then another bag, then another and then dumped in the bins outside the town.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Once I've opened something like flour, rice or sugar I store in Kilner jars or at least zip lock bags.

I use the cliptop for this sort of thing and standard screw jars when making jams or home canning meat/fruit/veg and stews etc.


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## Ovidia77 (Jun 11, 2009)

Cazzy said:


> I get them all the time despite vigorous cleaning. They are from the weevil family and like anything that is grain based (pasta, rice, flour) You need these sticky things as mentioned above. Make sure everything grain based is in airtight containers or else they make a web type thing in it where the grubs grow.


Add some food grade diatomaceous earth it gets rid of them. We were invaded as well. Now we add it to our rice, cereals, oats,... and they stay away.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

dunmovin said:


> "hissing sid"


Is that by any chance the Sid we were supposed to ask something if we saw him? wasn't it to do with British Gas? my old brain cells aren't as sharp as they were.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Is that by any chance the Sid we were supposed to ask something if we saw him? wasn't it to do with British Gas? my old brain cells aren't as sharp as they were.


I've remembered now "If you see Sid, tell him" - it was about the sale of shares in British Gas, another one of MT's cons to get us to buy what we already owned.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> I've remembered now "If you see Sid, tell him" - it was about the sale of shares in British Gas, *another one of MT's cons* to get us to buy what we already owned.


don't start 

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/la-tasca/121594-margaret-thatcher.html


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Is that by any chance the Sid we were supposed to ask something if we saw him? wasn't it to do with British Gas? my old brain cells aren't as sharp as they were.


no. three feet of tail with a head, precious little else, except "bad attitude". And no, I don't mean Peter Mandelson.

don't worry about the brain cell problem...do what I do...numb the fact we are getting older with large amounts of alcohol, leave the serious thinking to the wife and if it's wrong....you're totally blameless


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

dunmovin said:


> leave the serious thinking to the wife and if it's wrong....you're totally blameless


You obviously don't know women. Female logic dictates that even if you had nothing to do with it, it is still YOUR fault. (Maybe for letting the woman do the thinking.)


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I was plagued by these 'larder moths' for months a couple of years ago. Some of the 'younger generation' had left chocolate unwrapped and forgotten (Unbelievable, I know) in a and by the time I realised there were a lot around, they had mated, laid eggs, mated....etc.

I cleaned out all the cupboards, put all dry food into jars or plastic containers but still they kept coming. The only thing that worked was the sticky pheromone traps as mentioned - Mercadona seemed cheapest but Carrefour sold several brands so obviously mine was not an isolated case. I have since spotted them in several supermarkets, flitting about. If you see them in your home, act fast!


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

I understand what you mean Madliz, I put the sticky pheromone traps in the cupboard, the little pests still keep flying, some are getting stuck on there, and I am also clobbering a few!
I have been looking in the shops for large (4-5 litre) cereal storage containers, but have not managed to find any in our local shops in Javea yet. I think i'll try one of the bigger stores like Eroski, otherwise I'll order them from Amazon.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

fergie said:


> I understand what you mean Madliz, I put the sticky pheromone traps in the cupboard, the little pests still keep flying, some are getting stuck on there, and I am also clobbering a few!
> I have been looking in the shops for large (4-5 litre) cereal storage containers, but have not managed to find any in our local shops in Javea yet. I think i'll try one of the bigger stores like Eroski, otherwise I'll order them from Amazon.


You might not find upright storage boxes but you will find plenty that you can stack - try Carrefour (clear or coloured) or the 'chinito'.


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