A not so pleasant tea surprise...

[bsteele]

I opened a tin of tea leaves that I haven't had in several months and started to dump the leaves into a cup. It seemed kinda clumpy so I had to shake the tin some and look what plopped out




I need a "i'm about to throw up" emoticon. Haha... GROSS!!

Inside the lid of the tin was some silky webby stuff and one other friend in the tea. I'm HOPING those guys made there way into the tin somehow versus them already being in there all along.

Ohhh dear.

[Chip]

ProTEAn ...

[JBaymore]

ProTEAn ...

[gingkoseto]

OMG!! I had thought tea doesn't attract bugs/worms. Maybe it's just a myth

What tea is it? Does it contain any carbohydrate ingredient?

These worms look familiar to me! I once got them in some dried raisin and once got them in a bag of beans. They turn into moths (hence the webby stuff). There was one time we saw a few little moths once every a few days and wondered where they were from. Then we found those little worms

P.S., Is it a paper tin? I've heard from several people that the glue on some puerh pack box is favored by some little bugs (however the story is the little bugs only feed on the glue and won't even touch the tea).

[brad4419]

I hope for your sake thoughs arn't the same larva/moth that we had infestate our house and that they were just in your tea and not in your house. Kill all of them you find and look around for more because once they get out of control they are a major pain.

We had to throw out ALL our grain/nuts cereal, just about everything in the house that wasn't canned and then start putting new stuff in the freezer and it still took months and months before they were gone. So if you see any moths in your house kill them all and fast.

[Ebtoulson]

ewww KILL IT WITH FIRE

[bsteele]

ProTEAn ...

You so crazy Chip. Hah!

OMG!! I had thought tea doesn't attract bugs/worms. Maybe it's just a myth

What tea is it? Does it contain any carbohydrate ingredient?

P.S., Is it a paper tin? I've heard from several people that the glue on some puerh pack box is favored by some little bugs (however the story is the little bugs only feed on the glue and won't even touch the tea).

I should correct myself... I don't know why I said tea-- it's a blood orange herbal. And it's in a metal sampler tin.

And here's something even grosser-- I had emptied the tin outside and then for some reason I was like "hey, let's pour boiling water in the tin." A couple hours later I noticed that my counter was wet... the tin was leaking. When I opened it, on the bottom of the tin I saw lots and lots of litttttle eggs *gag*.

I've been noticing small moths flying around the house recently. And I recently threw out some panko crumbs because of webby/stringy stuff hanging off the bag.

It's all coming together now

Guess I'm going to have to do some purging

[Drax]

Guess I'm going to have to do some purging

Yikes, very nasty! Best of luck with the purge.

Search everywhere!

[geeber1]

If it's flour weevils, you'll probably want to throw everything "starchy" (flour, cereals, rice, cake mix, pudding mix, pasta etc.) because they get into everything. I keep my flour, rice, sugar in tupperware containers as well as my tea packages. But I wonder how they got into a sealed tin?

[Chip]

If it's flour weevils, you'll probably want to throw everything "starchy" (flour, cereals, rice, cake mix, pudding mix, pasta etc.) because they get into everything. I keep my flour, rice, sugar in tupperware containers as well as my tea packages. But I wonder how they got into a sealed tin?

Perhaps before it was placed in the tin.

[bsteele]

If it's flour weevils, you'll probably want to throw everything "starchy" (flour, cereals, rice, cake mix, pudding mix, pasta etc.) because they get into everything. I keep my flour, rice, sugar in tupperware containers as well as my tea packages. But I wonder how they got into a sealed tin?

I don't think the tin was perfectly sealed since it was leaking when I put water in it.

I did some initial purging last night and found some more critters. Opened my cupboard and a moth flew out. I had some quinoa from Whole Foods just in a brown bag... with some friends on the bag. I opened a thing of quick grits.. some dead friends in there and some webby stuff.

So I really don't know if they were already in the house (just moved in 4 months ago) or they hitched a ride on something-- either way they are having a lovely time multiplying in my cupboard.

Edit: Seems pet food can often be a source... I've got plenty of that.
And it looks like my friends are "Indian Meal Moths" http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/home/e300w.htm

"The moths are able to get into surprisingly tight spots, including sealed bags and Tupperware containers."

[Drax]

If it's flour weevils, you'll probably want to throw everything "starchy" (flour, cereals, rice, cake mix, pudding mix, pasta etc.) because they get into everything. I keep my flour, rice, sugar in tupperware containers as well as my tea packages. But I wonder how they got into a sealed tin?

They're definitely not weevils, which are beetles and look completely different. Sadly I know this from a terrible experience with a very old bag of flour, but also more info here.

[geeber1]

We call them weevils here, but I guess that technically they are weevil larvae. Either way, ewwwww!

[beckynoel]

I have experience with these little guys too. I've read that they exist in most starchy foods like grains, cereals, flour and rice. They often are already in the packages on the grocery store shelves! So whenever you buy one of those items you're supposed to put it in the freezer for 2-3 days to kill anything that may already be in there. I keep my flour and rice stored in the freezer. And I only buy one box of cereal at a time, so nothing sits too long.

[sneakers]

How have you made out since your post last month, bsteele?

These are wonderful, using pheromones to trap them, no poisons.
http://www.amazon.com/Safer-Brand-05140 ... y_hi_img_c

Ziploc bags or TIGHT plastic or metal containers work fine to keep them out. Your tea canister had to have the moths BEFORE it was shelved. They don't penetrate metal or plastic. The water was leaking out through the seam, but that doesn't make the can permeable to moths.