What does a black moth look like and how to deal with it?

Black moth is one of the varieties of such pests. Distinguish between food, wool and other types of moths. All of them, upon detection, are subject to immediate removal from the residential area.

The moth, as the main species, refers to a lepidopteran insect that vaguely resembles either a butterfly or a moth. The color of the head, body and wings is predominantly black. Moths are easy to see on white or light walls, especially black ones, and light colored furniture such as kitchen cupboards. All types of moths are found in nature around a person's home, for example, in a summer cottage or a personal plot. In nature, they feed on certain types of mushrooms and fruits - and they can fly to a person by accident.

Having found free access to dried fruits, dried mushrooms, oatmeal and cereals, nuts and spices, an adult lays eggs as quickly as possible. The moth is taken where the food is not packed, covered, or closed in the cupboard. It can start, for example, in the back room, where apricots or plums are dried for the winter. In the garden, she feeds on the same fallen and beginning to dry out apricots and plums. Reproducing on the site unrestricted and uncontrolled, the moth has a huge chance to get into a person's house.

During its life cycle, equal to 12-26 days, an individual gives birth to new offspring several times during its life. One female can lay thousands of eggs in one clutch session. Hatching from the eggs, the larvae immediately begin to feed on the food in which they have just hatched. The larva turns into a worm (caterpillar), which winds a cocoon around itself. Inside it, the caterpillar turns into a pupa. Developing over the next few days, the caterpillar turns into a moth. The moth emerging from the cocoon has soft crumpled wings. In a few hours, the wings of the moth will get stronger, and the newly-made moth flies freely and moves from place to place. Many insects go through similar stages - butterflies, moths, flies and many others. This staging is the main similarity in their reproduction and development.

There is no direct, life-threatening harm from moths to humans. Modern man as a biological species has several stages of natural protection given by nature, obtained in the course of the further evolution of anthropoids. It is difficult for a person to get irreparable harm to health with the help of a moth. Its larvae are unable to penetrate the vital organs (liver, lungs, heart, brain) with the blood flow, as happens, for example, in the case of infection with echinococcus from flies feeding on the feces of dogs and cats. But they can spoil a person's life: once in the intestines, the larvae begin to secrete poisons - waste products.

The wool moth, for example, eats up wool, drape, leather, cotton fabric and feathers, turning all of these materials into dust. Thousands of cases were noted when, for example, expensive wool was eaten by moths, and 20 years later a jacket, coat or scarf were found, spoiled to such an extent that it would be a shame to wear it when going out. The moth does not eat completely synthetic materials - but it can eat semi-synthetics, destroying, for example, socks made of 90% cotton and 10% polyamide. It eats away natural fibers from such materials, significantly reducing the strength, elasticity and suitability of the latter.

When buying flour or cereals, inspect it for lumps. And although buckwheat and millet are processed with hot steam, or additionally fried at a low temperature and without oil, that is, they undergo heat treatment after harvesting in the fields, it is not recommended to buy dubious, caked products.

Despite the use of a sealed package (or sealed packaging), some factories for the production of flour, processing of cereal products occasionally allow non-compliance with factory standards in full. The press periodically publishes stories that pest control (removal of insects) and deratization (getting rid of rats and mice) were not carried out on time at a particular plant. As a result of such savings, some of the products may end up defective.

Even when an external examination did not reveal caking, souring, mold, it is recommended to thoroughly heat treatment (steaming, frying, baking) at the temperature required for the preparation of a particular dish, causing guaranteed death of eggs and larvae of harmful insects. Simmering at 70-90 degrees, even for several hours, may not kill all larvae, viruses and microbes by 100%, it is recommended not to use this method.

If everything is clear with passive methods of struggle (carefully locking food in closed containers in a closet and maintaining general cleanliness in the house every day), then when the moth has already started, all surfaces are treated with exterminators. The simplest remedy is to use a soapy solution based on laundry soap. Crevices and joints of furniture, accessories are treated with vinegar. Food can be placed only after 4 hours, when the treated surfaces are dry.

If there is a suspicion that the eggs and larvae of the moth are in flour and cereals, but the larvae did not have time to spoil them, the flour and cereals are dried in the oven at a moderate temperature. Processed stocks are placed back in glass and plastic containers with ground-in lids and stoppers.

The chemical industry offers a number of poisons in the form of sprays, tablets, plates. You can also buy camphor or naphthalene, which are found in some industrial moth repellents. Wormwood or tobacco (makhorka) and a large sticky tape containing insect pheromone substitutes help fight woolen moths in the wardrobe. Sticky tape baits are also used to repel flies.

Getting rid of moths is not the whole complex of measures. It is important to prevent its reappearance. By placing citrus peels and walnuts in a secluded place, you will be insured against a new invasion of this insect. A moth, like a fly, flies mainly on edibles - except that the fly does not eat natural tissues.

Another way to get rid of moths for a long time is to keep some cereals in the refrigerator. Its doors are protected by airtight gaskets around the perimeter, preventing the movement of air from the room to the refrigerator compartment and vice versa.