What are moth traps and how to use them?

No matter how diligent, vigilant and all-knowing the owners are, one day they will notice how a gray-brown moth, a clothing or kitchen moth, flies around the house or apartment. Fighting it takes a lot of time and effort. But there is a way out - these are moth traps. And what they are, and how to use them, we will tell you in the article.

Food moth feeds on dried fruits, cereals, pasta, flour and any products made from it, starch, sugar and bakery products. Dried meat or fish can also be attacked by this insect. Chocolate, coffee and cocoa are also her prerogative. What this moth finds will spoil it: its purpose is not only to get enough, but also to lay eggs near all the listed products or directly on them.

Only larvae actively eat food - they need nutrients in excess for further growth. At the stage of the pupa and adult moth, the insect no longer possesses a piercing mouth apparatus capable of piercing the bag in several places. However, sabotage begins with the laying of eggs: in a short life cycle, the moth already knows what it is to eat its favorite foods and lay up to 400 eggs. One of the evidences that the moth managed to manage in the supplies is the thinnest web, which goes to cocoon from it.

Visual evidence is swarming larvae (caterpillars), say, in dry oatmeal (oatmeal) groats. To get rid of moths, homemade and industrial traps are used, with which the insect can be caught in the shortest possible time. The active substance of such traps is made harmless to humans - for example, it contains pheromones and / or glue.

Commercial moth traps are the most effective - they use substitutes for natural pheromones in their composition. Pheromone is a substance that attracts individuals of the opposite sex to individuals of one of the sexes. Each type of insect has its own pheromones - they are aimed at attracting males and are secreted from females. If you imitate this unique natural substance by smell, then the moth is guaranteed to hit the object from all cracks and corners, forgetting that there are instincts for self-preservation.

The fact is that in many animals, including most insects, the leading instinct is to urge individuals to reproduce. Males seek out females to mate based on the pheromones they produce. The smell of pheromones is artificially reproduced by humans with the help of certain reagents produced in insect organisms.

The simplest pheromone trap with glue is sticky tape that lures male moths with its scent. The action of the pheromone reagent is based on the associations of insects of this substance with an individual of the opposite sex. The brain in insects, which includes the mole, is not as developed (1 million neurons) as in humans (86 billion).In other words, the insect's head contains only the basic instincts by which it lives.

So, in the simplest case, the glue is applied to the tape. A more advanced option is a fancy-shaped cardboard box, which can also be glued, for example, near the cabinet where cereals are stored. A male moth flying up to such a trap sticks to it permanently.

A variety of pheromone-free glue traps is double-sided tape. The hit of a moth on it is mostly purely random, since the irritating effect of pheromones is completely absent. Instead of a pheromone, a simulator of odors is used as a bait, for example, cereals - the moth flies onto it, it finds the same buckwheat by its characteristic smell. A flavor (food additive) that matches one of the foods that moth prefers can help catch it. All types and varieties of traps that attract moths by a specific smell (product or pheromones) last no more than one and a half months. After this period, the smell becomes so weak that it does not play a significant role. In cheaper baits for moths, the smell either disappears completely, or is replaced by a different one, not characteristic of this trap. In this case, the trap is changed.

Moth traps without glue are made according to a special scheme. The male that has flown up climbs inside - but does not have the opportunity to go back. No glue is needed here. For example, it can be a ribbed box, the cutouts of the slots in which are directed inward. Insects squeeze through these holes easily, but they will not be able to get out. The slots through which the mole passes inward are arranged according to the principle of one-way movement: their doors move apart when the mole squeezes into the closed compartment, but they cannot turn in the other direction, this is a design feature. This resembles the checkpoints for people in the enterprise, each of which works in only one direction.

The following brands are popular with Russian buyers:

• Aeroxon;

• Argus;

• Globol;

• Raptor.

Russian production of moth bait has been brought up to foreign quality. Our production on the market of pest control agents is represented by the companies "Argus" and "Raptor". Their effectiveness has been proven by extensive tests and confirmed by numerous positive customer reviews.

In addition to the above brands, dozens of others have only recently begun to conquer the market. Their effectiveness is still at a dubious level - the production of traps for moths and other insects has not yet been fully mastered. Among them, there are also insect traps of an unsafe nature - some versions of these brands are "pumped up" with poisons, suitable mainly for clothes, rather than food moths. If the food moth took advantage of such a bait, having tasted the poison, it would spread it everywhere - to everything that came into its field of vision.

The cheapest and most widespread type is the ribbon trap. It is rolled into a small roll in the form of scotch tape. To use the adhesive tape, unwind and cut the required amount of material. Remove the protective layer from the end - for this stickiness it is attached to the shelf, plastic wall or ceiling, to the profile of the false ceiling (it is most often made from narrow strips of steel). The most demanded place of application is a ceiling or a hanging shelf.

To avoid wasting money, an experienced owner will take care of the cleanliness of the kitchen. It is not superfluous to bring perfect cleanliness - the moth will be removed from the place where, in other words, nothing is left of the edible. It is recommended not just to wipe everything, take out the excess, but to carry out a total disinfection and disinfestation. Products affected by moths are subject to immediate destruction, it is better to burn them. If this is not done, the moth will not emerge: the replacement of traps in this case is endless, and the source of the insect's intake will remain unknown. The situation is similar, for example, to cockroaches in a hostel: you have processed everything that is possible in your room, and these cockroaches are crawling from neighbors on the floor, since they did not take them all out.

Moth catching devices are sold in offline stores and online trading platforms. The effectiveness, efficiency of the product is checked on the spot - based on the information of the company that certifies the product. If there is no such information, most likely you are in front of a fake with unproven effectiveness.