What is this moth -> Indian Meal Moth + Carpet Beatle?

[Paul Cherubini]

CraiginNJ wrote:

> PS -- FWI, Indian Meal Moths apparently need a food
> source (e.g. grains or something).  I don't see any sign
> of them near my food (which is only in the kitchen,
> and almost everything is bagged).  It's strange that
> the moths have mainly been at the other end of the
> condominium, and today was the first time I found one
> in the kitchen.  Maybe there's some food debris under
> the oven along with about 15 years of dust.

Indian Meal Moths are everywhere, indoors and outdoors and they are
found in the cleanest of homes. They readily infest vertually any kind
of dried food item and seeds of all types, includng bird seed, dog, cat
and pet fish food . The larvae live in cracks and seams within kitchen
cubboards and in similar types of situations in the home where food has
been spilled. The exterminator can help by spraying a liquid residual
insecticide in your kitchen cubboards (with the food taken out of
course) and areas such as under the refrigerator and similar places
where food gets spilled and forgotten.  If you are going away from the
house for a weekend, you can kill all adults moths in the house by
hanging 18% DDVP (dichlorvos) "No Pest Strips" inside the house - 1
strip per 1000 cubic feet. These strips are available at most large
supermarket/variety/garden/pharmacy type stores and are extremely
effective against any kind of food infesting or clothes type moths in
the home. They won't kill carpet beetles, however.

> seen any (maybe one or two), vs. dozens of carpet
> beatle larve.  It's all a little strange -- given the numbers
> I would have thought the larve and moths were related,
> but it seems not.

Practically any home has dermestid (e.g. carpet) beetles. They live off
of  food debris, pet hairs, etc. Again the exterminator can help reduce
(but not eliminate) them via spraying a residual insecticide along
baseboards. in cracks, crevices, under furniture and similar type
harborage places. Perfect sanitation also helps, but is seldom
practical. 

Paul Cherubini, Placerville, California