in glass or hard plastic -- no cardboard boxes, crinkly bags, or zip-locs. Those things nest everywhere and anywhere. Have heard to store it outside in future, as the moths will commonly come along. Ugh, those things. Ask MetaFilter is a question and answer site that covers nearly any question on earth, where members help each other solve problems. We have a perpetual pantry moth problem (small light brown moths, males are sort of banded but females are more solid tan), and the larvae occasionally do just migrate out onto the ceiling . Live off fresh food for the summer months, and try again in the fall. Wash all unopened jars and cans in hot, soapy water. We had these moths in DC. I had to toss out all my grains in response to a major infestation about a year ago, thanks to WholeFood's bulk grain bins. Let me tell you, opening a bagel and having squirming worms sticking out of it is something I never want to repeat! Good luck to you. Also, if you have one, your... Sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the edges and in the corners of your pantry shelves. Add a few bay leaves to each container of stored seeds, flours, grains, or dried fruit. The larvae/worms look a bit like small caterpillars are a whitish-yellowish color with little black heads and about 2/3-inch (1 cm) long. Your pictures are bringing back horrible memories. I could not get rid of them. What are they? We wound up throwing all of our open dry goods away and keeping the unopened stuff and the new goods we got in large Rubbermaid containers. If you can get to the eggs and keep a swatter in the kitchen for awhile, (we were getting a dozen moths a day for awhile) you'll be fine. You'll want to check all receptacles of flour, cereal, corn starch, spices*, etc. Ask MetaFilter is where thousands of life's little questions are answered. Those pheromone traps do work, but not until the larvae hatch. Mine came in the bag of wild bird food. I have no idea what the eggs look like, but the cocoons will be little webby clumps of grain about .25" wide. What do we do? Store as many dry goods in the fridge/freezer as possible, especially the ones that tend to sit around for a long time (flour etc.). They come into your house in dry goods like birdseed, rice, stuff from the bulk bins at the supermarket, etc. Oh, and those larvae? We're currently in a lull but I don't doubt they'll be back. Like everyone else says, there's a good chance that something among your dry foods (flour, noodles, dry soup, powdered mixes, cookies, etc.) Just as an additional data point, I've fought these bastards too and won, using the techniques already outlined in the best (and other) answers. I've had them before, too, and they look just like that (despite the misleading picture on the wikipedia page that seems to suggest that they're more greenish). Totally pantry moths, aka miller moths. Join 6,455 readers in helping fund MetaFilter. A pantry moth egg produces a caterpillar worm-like moth larvae that may be a 1/2 inch long and contains about 5 pair of legs. It's a start. There are pheromone based traps for these that work pretty well. I agree with the others who have suggested they're pantry moths. Okay, they don't. Here's, We have a perpetual pantry moth problem (small light brown moths, males are sort of banded but females are more solid tan), and the larvae occasionally do just migrate out onto the ceiling (. People upthread have already mentioned what some of the signs are--husks, "threads" on the sides of cereal boxes or flour containers--but I will add that their eggs are tiny little off-white dots, easily confused for crumbs. I am still fighting them, two years into the war.