If you want to fight moths in your home, you don't have to resort to chemical cleaners. You can take advantage of a natural predator – the ichneumon wasp.
Bremen – Everyone knows these situations – you open a muesli and look at threads or want to make pancakes and notice threads in the flour. The culprits are moths and they can not only spoil your breakfast, because not only grain and Co. are on their menu, but also clothes the little insects literally like to eat. There are dozens of different types in Europe, and consumers probably don't like any of them in their homes. However, there is no need to resort to chemical agents to eliminate moths, because there is a natural enemy of moths with which they can be fought: the ichneumon wasp.
| Insect | Ichneumon wasp |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Moth control |
| Effect | Eats moths |
Ichneumon wasp as a practical home remedy for moths in the apartment
Fighting small insects with other small insects may sound like fighting fire with fire. However, if you are worried that you may end up with twice as many pests in your home, you can rest assured. The ichneumon wasp is a useful parasite. They lay their eggs in the eggs of the moths and when the larvae of the ichneumon wasp hatch, they eat the eggs of the moths - this directly prevents the spread of moths, reports Ökotest.
These are ichneumon wasps
The ichneumon wasp is a tiny insect. They live for a maximum of ten days and cannot fly, but only crawl. The small insects do not sting or bite and are therefore not dangerous to humans.
Ichneumon wasp as a practical home remedy for moths in the apartment
When the ichneumon wasps have developed, they in turn lay eggs themselves, thus continuing to help in the fight against moths. This goes on and on until there are no more moth eggs. Then there are no more breeding grounds and no food for the ichneumon wasps and they also die out. In the end, neither moths nor ichneumon wasps remain in the apartment, writes Ökotest.
Ichneumon wasps are the natural predators of moths and thus help in the fight against moths in the household. (Symbolic image) © Imago
If you want to use ichneumon wasps in the fight against moths, you can buy them in many hardware stores, specialized stores or online. Often, the eggs of the wasp are located on small cards. Ideally, these should be placed in the immediate vicinity of the wardrobe or pantry, where the moths are located. This is especially important because the ichneumon wasp only claps and does not fly.
Ichneumon wasp as a practical home remedy for moths in the apartment
In order to really eliminate all moths, the process has to be repeated frequently and takes up to 15 weeks, reports Ökotest – depending on which moths are being controlled, for example in the case of clothes moths. In order for the process to be applied over this period, new wasp larvae should be applied every two to three weeks.
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If moths are detected in the apartment, it is also advisable to dispose of all infested food first. Subsequently, the shelves should be cleaned, for example, with vinegar and water. Only then should the ichneumon wasps be used - in this way, the infestation of moths can be permanently counteracted.
Ichneumon wasps are not the only useful home remedy, there are also home remedies that help against sunburn. While moths in the apartment and sunburn are rather common problems, unusual things happen again and again. For example, a vacationer was attacked by a crocodile and was able to free his head. (Kiba)