Like humans insects are also found everywhere. Most of them don’t harm you but if it’s the first thing through which you go then it doesn’t sound good. If you keep your house and outside environment dirty don’t be astonished to see insects crawling in and outside your house. Amongst them the most common worm that you shall come across would be Meal Worm. You shall mostly find them in your shelves where you keep your cereals and flour. There are three types of meal worms commonly known as the lesser meal worm, the yellow meal worm and the dark meal worm. They are of great advantage in farms as they help to fertilize the soil by hunting on debris, remains of birds and even animal droppings.
We need to get rid of them as soon as possible because they are active all the time and can damage your cereals to a great extent. Secondly they start multiplying at a faster rate. If you have seen just one in the morning in your flour bin don’t be shocked to see twenty more the next morning. Other then cereals and flour they also feed on carpets, clothing and artificial plants.
Below are some ways to get rid of them
1. Keep your kitchen clean and dry – The best and the easiest way to get rid of them is by keeping your kitchen clean and dry. They tend to lay more eggs in the dirty places which is their peculiarity. Secondly they can hunt on anything including the decaying material. So try to wipe the kitchen once you are done with your work. They are fond of grain based products. So try to pick them up if they are fallen down. Thus by keeping things dry they can be avoided.
2. Throw away the food which is infected by meal worms – If given the right hatching environment a meal worm beetle can lay as many as 70 to 100 eggs that gradually become larvae in one week. So you can think if you leave the flour bin unchecked with just one of them they start multiplying by ten times.
3. Use air tight containers to store food – These worms can enter through any small hole. So using air tight containers is must. Tupperware and plastic container for this instance can be used to store food. Care should be taken that if the grains are stored in some thin plastic they can easily pierce through them. If you are not using certain things regularly then you can freeze them. By this meal worms won’t be able to enter and if they are there would be killed by the freezing temperature.
4. Ask for professional service of some exterminator – If you can’t deal with meal worm then you can always hire the service of a professional who will provide you with some guidance by charging a nominal fee. They can deal with it in a better way then you can as they are provided training on them.
Thus you can get rid of meal worms.