Moth infestation...

Captain Crisp

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Returned to the boat after a couple of weeks to find lots of tiny moths flying around... They look a bit like clothes moths, but there's nothing here that they could eat. Just wondering if anyone else has had similar?
Thanks
Crisp
 

Falling Star

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Could they be "Pantry moths"? Sometimes called Indianmeal moths.

Do you have any dry foods on board? They may be infested during packaging and can be found in rice, grains, pasta etc. There are several ways to get rid of them on YouTube.
 

shanemax

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These would be Tineola Bisselliella, (a protected species) A £10,000 fine for for disturbing or killing one.
 

bluerm166

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If there are small white cases involved and woollen carpet then likely carpet moth.Hats off to anyone who can identify these or any similar small moth remotely.Its the larvae which carries a protective case that munches the fibre,the moths don't eat.From experience eggs are laid indoors in shaded areas near a vertical surface.
Can't find reference to the 'protected moth' quoted - a link would be more convincing.
 

biffandkatie

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Not Moths but recently had a wasps nest onboard, found their way into a small cupboard in the main cabin. A very effective smoke bomb purchased from Amazon soon sorted the problem!.
 

shanemax

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THE WASPS WOULD HAVE BEEN MELLINUS ARUENSIS. or digger wasps. Another protected species. For destroying a nest the penalty on conviction is a maximum 5 years in prison and /or an unlimited fine. What are the boating community doing with all their sprays/powders/bombs.
 

johnalison

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THE WASPS WOULD HAVE BEEN MELLINUS ARUENSIS. or digger wasps. Another protected species. For destroying a nest the penalty on conviction is a maximum 5 years in prison and /or an unlimited fine. What are the boating community doing with all their sprays/powders/bombs.
Possibly, but if he immediately recognised them as wasps rather than the attractive diggers, they are more likely to be the common or garden variety. We found a common wasp’s nest in our children’s Cadet dinghy many years ago.
 

biffandkatie

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THE WASPS WOULD HAVE BEEN MELLINUS ARUENSIS. or digger wasps. Another protected species. For destroying a nest the penalty on conviction is a maximum 5 years in prison and /or an unlimited fine. What are the boating community doing with all their sprays/powders/bomb
Have previous experience with diggers, these were common.
 

Black Diamond

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I had my first marine run-in with wasps this year, on my first ever venture onto canals. I started my preparation in 1988 by watching the only ever TV screening of Alan Ayckbourn's play Way Upstream, where the tyrannical canal boat skipper teaches the terrified crew, and me, the incorrect terms for canal boating equipment. The ones that stuck were 'piggle' for the spike that is driven into the canal bank, and 'scuff' for the mooring rope attached thereto.

Desperate for a remarkably well-priced pint in the Airedale Heifer (£3.50, and the best pint on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal), we drove the port chine hard up the bank and I jumped ashore and bashed the stern piggle straight through a wasps' nest. Luckily I only suffered one successful drone attack before I retreated through the hatch, and it was a long while later before I attempted to attach the stern scuff.

The other major clanger on that trip was going aground in a lock, but not on the cill. The idiot skipper of the narrow boat alongside, not unlike Alan Ayckbourn's man, had taken control of a double lock, and left the bottom sluice open, and thus the grounding. Following the helpful and informative canal guidebook, I duly opened the side sluice to re-float the lock, but the combination of our boat being four feet below datum and the helm being right by the sluice was our undoing; Not only were several hundred gallons of water pumped into the boat before I heard the screams and wails at my position on the dockside capstan high above and out of line of sight, but the exhaust pipe of the Webasto heater was flooded, rendering it useless for drying out the boat during the ensuing rainy week.

And that was only day one. I wasn't convinced worse things happen at sea.
 

tillergirl

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Just booked attendance from the Pest Controller to get rid of the new wasp nest in the Wisteria adjacent to the patio. It (the nest) is inconveniently positioned atwarth the flight path to and from the BBQ.
 
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