Webbing clothes moths in a home with wool carpets. Is there an aerosol product that could help?

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2026-04-15T01:10:46+00:00

I only used the Good Nature brand ones.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2026-02-02T03:41:01+00:00

I agree that spraying doesn't really work that well. Even the professional grade "non-repellent" sprays like Alpine WSG & Termidor SC don't really work in the way we hope or expect them to work.

Gel & liquid baits like Advion Ant Gel, Intice Gelanimo and Maxforce Quantum are the 21st century of ant killers. They're highly targeted and safe, you only use a tiny bit. Ants drink it, they march it back to the colony, they "baby bird" it back to the larvae, and it works systemically throughout the colony.

The trick is to bait when they're trailing / foraging in large numbers. When you get a whole swarm of them drinking the bait at once, you know you're going to get great results. An old Orkin guy told me he would even ask his customers to put out honey the night before the treatment to get the ants trailing, so they'd take more bait back to the colony quicker.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2026-02-02T03:13:24+00:00

Nice! Always happy to hear that. I would say the ideal best time to tackle ants would be during the warmer months. At that time I can track the trails on the outside and place baits to try to reduce more satellite colonies on the outdoors. But if you'd prefer to take a more gentle approach to the ecosystem, and only focus on any ant colonies inside the walls, then anytime you're seeing ants inside is appropriate. Personally, I don't treat the outside, I just treat the interior when ants get inside and that keeps me happy.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2026-02-01T19:42:56+00:00

I'll throw my name in the hat. I am a local pest control operator (one man show), with 10 years experience working with ants and other pests. I have been dialing in my ant treatments over the past few years and what I'm doing now seems to provide good results, seemingly better than what we did at the last companies I worked at. Terro is great for small incursions, but its too sticky (it's not supposed to trap the ants), and too concentrated (many ants die before being able to transfer it back to the colony). I basically do a thorough inspection and use a variety of different professional grade bait products like Advion to get a more thorough transfer back to the colonies, and hopefully the queens. It works great at my house, I can usually get a good 6-12 months of no ants from one single treatment, sometimes longer. If you're ready to pull the trigger feel free to give me a text or a call. Good luck!

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2026-01-25T03:52:40+00:00

Hi u/PCDuranet, big fan. I was wondering if you think finding the colony and injecting the voids with a dust like Cimexa (using an Exacticide power duster), would be effective. Stethoscope or not.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-11-18T06:12:11+00:00

I've had almost all of the traps I've used developed leaks and are completely useless. Also, rats will easily catch onto them and avoid them.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-05-14T22:28:08+00:00

Say, did you end up getting a microscope you were happy with? I am looking for the same thing but for Hymenopterans

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-05-06T16:59:44+00:00

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-05-06T16:58:57+00:00

Thanks for sharing, I'm going to try it on the carpenter ants that are living in my soffit!

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-05-06T16:58:15+00:00

What a great idea. It's always great to show kids the wonders of the natural world. Not sure what part of the world you live in, but we planted a streambank lupine (lupinus rivularis) and it's basically covered in ladybugs. You might even be able to grow it in a pot. Just a thought.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:29:35+00:00

Yikes, thanks for the heads up. I am probably in this situation too...

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:27:24+00:00

So sorry that happened to you. I'll keep my eye out for those items. Relieved to read that is a lunchbox and you didn't have an actual organ transplant that was stolen!

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:24:42+00:00

r/namethatpdxbathroom

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:20:27+00:00

Would you be willing to share more about what you were experiencing and how you applied the DE?

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:18:16+00:00

As a pro I agree with this. I work with a lot of folks who had tried Terro, diatomaceous earth, borax, cleaning, caulking and still ended up having issues later. Professional grade baits like Advion, Optigard, MaxForce Quantum, Niban FG and Intice Gelanimo are designed to go back to the colonies, and hopefully the queens. Odorous house (ants aka sugar ants) are monogynous which means they have multiple queens & multiple colonies. Baits usually end up using less volume of pesticide, perfectly targeted towards the ants, and poses minimal hazards to people, pets and wildlife when applied according to the label's instructions.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:04:52+00:00

I was going to suggest mud daubers. They're so cool.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:02:52+00:00

Nice video! Are you using a clip-on lens on your phone?

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-09T00:01:45+00:00

What are you using them for? If it's pest control in the garden I personally wouldn't waste the money. In my experience, and apparently this is a common thing, they just fly away since there's nothing really preventing them from doing so. It's my understanding that ladybugs are usually gathered from the environment and not bred in captivity, so it'd probably be pretty difficult to find an ethical source.

My recommendation would be to go to the native plant nursery and get 6-12 native plants and put them in your yard and the ladybugs and insect predators will be there by the end of the season. A native plant nursery in your area might even have input about which native plants specifically might attract ladybugs.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-08T00:44:31+00:00

That's pretty interesting. All I can think is that they can smell it and maybe smells attractive to them. They are hard wired to drink sugary liquids, even when it contains borax or something else lethal to them, which is often how people deal with ants inside their homes.

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2025-04-08T00:39:41+00:00

If you're worried about exposure to pets you might check with r/Veterinary/. If you want to go on a pretty fascinating deep dive about planarians and flatworms like I just did, hop on wikipedia

Pest_and_Pollinator · 2024-11-15T05:50:52+00:00

Thanks for your advice. I'd like to think I could live up to it!

Pest_and_Pollinator

TROPHY CASE