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Hi Dave:
Have you ever heard/ seen insects getting into commercially dried chiles? I thought the dried chiles would inhibit any bugs but I just opened a commercially sealed package of dried chiles and there were what looked like webs attached to the chile pods and weird "stuff" in the package. I’ve never seen such a thing before. I know pasta products and flour will attract buggies but I didn’t think chiles would.
Mike
Hello Mike:
This happens all the time, mostly with ristras that contain pupae from small moths that hatch and cause consternation. In your case, this is poor storage in humid conditions that causes insect infestations. Webs would indicate spiders, which don’t feed on chiles but rather the insects infesting them. Since most chile drying is done in furnaces, which would kill the insects, in this case it is probably post-drying infestations. Throw out the chiles.
Dave
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