Moth infestations split into two distinct problems that get confused often. Clothes moths target wool, fur, and other natural-fiber fabrics — and it's the larvae, not the adult moths, that cause the actual damage, feeding quietly in closets, chests, and storage boxes for weeks before anyone notices holes in a sweater or coat. Pantry moths are a kitchen problem entirely, infesting stored dry goods like flour, grains, cereal, and pet food, usually arriving in a product package rather than from outside.
Because the damage from clothes moths is done by larvae you may never see, an inspection has to check inside storage — folded wool items, the corners of closets and drawers, area rugs, and any natural-fiber storage that's gone untouched for a while. Pantry moth inspection instead focuses on kitchen and pantry shelving, checking packaged dry goods for the webbing or larvae that signal an active infestation.
Mike Jacoby, the licensed exterminator behind Big Apple Pest Control, treats under NY Pesticide Business Licence #15739 and tailors the inspection and treatment protocol to whichever moth type is actually present.
Signs you have a moth control problem
- Irregular holes in wool sweaters, coats, rugs, or other natural-fiber items in storage
- Small silken webbing or larval casings in closet corners, drawers, or folded fabric
- Small moths flying erratically near a kitchen pantry or dry-goods storage area
- Webbing or clumping inside a bag or box of flour, grains, cereal, or pet food
- Adult moths found resting on walls or ceilings near a closet or kitchen, rather than near windows
Why Park Slope sees this
Older prewar buildings in Brooklyn Heights and Harlem often have deep closets and long-term wool storage — coats, rugs, blankets — that go undisturbed for a season or more, which is exactly the setting clothes moth larvae need to do damage unnoticed. We see this pattern regularly in older co-ops and brownstone apartments across our service area.
Pantry moths show up independent of building age or neighborhood, since they typically arrive already in a packaged product rather than from the building itself — a bag of flour, grains, or pet food from a shared pantry supply. Treatment under NY Pesticide Business Licence #15739 starts with identifying and removing the source package before addressing the surrounding shelving.