We’ve seen dozens of creepy little tan-colored worm looking things in the house. Our best guess is that they are mealworms. We have no idea how they got in the house. The pets, of course, are all oblivious to them. Rather than deal with an obviously an intolerable situation, we have summoned the experts to distribute poison.
The exterminator will be here Tuesday. In the meantime, we’ve evacuated all the non-canned food from the cupboards into the fridge and freezer, where we are instructed that it must sit for three days to let any of the nasty little things in them die. The exterminator told me today that mealworms, like most bugs, do not tolerate cold well and will die when exposed to prolonged cold temperatures. If they are mealworms, though, they’re pretty hardy and will survive being at refrigerator temperatures for up to 72 hours. Who knew?
So Tuesday, we get to inspect all the chilled flour and pasta before re-stocking it in the pantry where it belongs. Turns out, you have a lot more room in your refrigerator than you think when you take everything out, get rid of the old stuff you forget about and will never use, and re-stock it with things that have flat surfaces.
In the meantime, it’s a lot of runs out for take-out burritos because we can’t be sure what food has mealworms in it or not until after the cool-them-out treatment is done.
I’ve never heard of such a thing. Are they common to the desert? Could they be all over here, too, and I’ve just not noticed? Could they be ON ME RIGHT NOW?
I suppose they COULD be on you right now, but you’d notice. They small but visible. Eventually they’ll turn into months. As if little creepy-crawly worms weren’t bad enough, at some point they’ll fly. Something to look forward to. So glad Mr. Bug Killer is coming to our rescue soon!