Dr. Janis Reed, BCE, Technical Services Manager, Product Development Team, Control Solutions Inc.
Even though I’m an entomologist, my mother calls every pantry pest a “weevil.” A couple years ago, she called me about — and texted me out-of-focus photos of — larval, pupal and adult Indianmeal moths (Plodia interpunctella, or IMM) invading her pantry.
Stored product sins were plentiful in her well-stocked, very cluttered pantry. What sins, you ask? Well, for starters:
- Dog food and treats were stored alongside the human food.
- Several open boxes, bags and bulk items were stored in their original packaging.
- There was quite the collection of expired dry baking mixes (and when I say expired, I mean expired).
In that moment, I had to consider my own mother as a customer! The bulk of my time dealing with this pest issue had nothing to do with controlling pests, and everything to do with fixing all the things listed above and educating her on why all those things were “bad.” Very little time was spent identifying all the items that were infested and discarding them. We ended up finding three different species of stored product pests (SPP) before the day was over.
A few weeks back, I visited my parents’ house and of course, I checked the pantry: No dog food or treats. A plethora of glass jars. Nary a SPP in sight. I love a happy ending!
The moral of my story is: Take the time to educate customers on what they can do to alleviate their SPP problems. They just might heed your advice, even if they are your parents.
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