Your kitchen spice rack may be secretly affecting the number of insect housemates you have. Most homeowners will not know that particular spices can serve as strong attractants or deterrents for common household pests. The aromatic compounds that render spices salty to humans can send signals that are welcoming or warning to certain insects. Learning about this relationship between spices and bugs can help you arrange your pantry more strategically and possibly help you minimize pest problems without using harsh measures.
But for large annoying or stubborn infestations, professional Exterminator Services are the best option to effectively get rid of the pest completely and deter their recurrence. This guide examines which common kitchen spices might be inadvertently luring bugs into your home and which ones might even help keep them away.
Top 5 Spices That Attract Most Bugs
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Turmeric
Turmeric is a spice prized for its medicinal properties for people, but it is also appealing to certain species of spider beetles and drugstore beetles. The starch and the aromatic compounds make this brightly colored spice a prime target for these stubborn pantry pests.
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Sugar and Sweet Spices
Many sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are naturally sugar-laden and, therefore, very attractive to ants, flies, and cockroaches. Sugar-based food sources can draw ants from distances of up to 50 feet. If these spices leak or are exposed, they can become pest magnets in no time.
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Paprika
This bright red spice is especially appealing to pantry pests such as weevils, which focus on dry grains, and flour beetles, which attack a variety of dry foods. Although paprika can seem innocuous, the carotenoid compounds that are found in paprika give off volatile oils that some stored-product insects can detect from surprising distances. Capsaicin, a compound responsible for the spicy heat of paprika, repels many mammals, but it attracts some beetle species.
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Garlic Powder
Though fresh garlic may help ward off certain pests, dried garlic powder frequently attracts grain beetles and mites. The treatment eliminates some of the sulfur components that serve as natural repellents while retaining the attractive carbohydrates and proteins that pantry pests are looking for.
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Cumin
Many species of stored-product moths find the earthy perfume of cumin appealing. One of the most common pantry pests, the Indian meal moth, is known to preferentially infest cumin compared to many other spices, according to controlled studies. Its potent odor serves as a homing beacon for these insistent insects.
5 Spices That Repel Most Bugs
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Cayenne Pepper.
Powerful capsaicin makes cayenne pepper a strong natural barrier for insects. Laboratory research shows that the 1% cayenne extract solutions have repelled nearly 90% of typical household ants. The burning sensation it produces in the insects’ sensory receptors keeps most crawling pests away from your kitchen storage.
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Cloves.
Clove essential oil, or eugenol, is a natural insecticide and repellent. This spice is highly efficient against flying insects such as fruit flies and mosquitoes. A few whole cloves planted at the entrance points or in the pantry storage access zones will reduce bug activity significantly.
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Black Pepper.
Black pepper contains piperine, a compound that kills or disrupts the nervous system of a variety of tiny insects. Create a barrier around your pantry using ground black pepper in the corners, slides, and along the bottom boards – most sorts of ants, roaches, and silverfish will not cross it.
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Bay Leaves.
While gentle to human palates, bay leaves include “smelly” substances like eucalyptol, repelling pantry moths, weevils, and cockroaches.
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Cinnamon.
Despite the alluring scent of sweet cinnamon, cinnamon essential oil is an effective deterrence against multiple kinds of ants and cockroaches. The kit abounds with cinnamaldehyde, a volatile molecule that blocks the larvae from finding where the food is or talking to others in a colony.
