Fruit-fly invasion!

[zxcvbob]

I can't figure out where it's coming from.  All the fruit in the house is in the fridge.  I've checked for a rotten potato (but I'd probably smell that); can't find anything else they could be feeding on...  Damp dish rag?  I checked for that.  How long do the little bastards live?  This has been going on for about a week.

We run hot water in the drains enough they shouldn't be coming from there.  They are mostly in the kitchen, but I'm seeing a few of them all over the house.  I have a half-gallon mason jar of kombucha fermenting in the kitchen and I'm sure that attracts them, but it has a tight-mesh cloth lid that they can't get thru, plus they don't seem to be congregating around it anyway.  Any ideas? 

Wife sets jars with apple cores and cut tangerines out as bait, then moves it outside in the freezing weather to kill them.  I'm swatting them by the dozens with a fly swatter.  We are keeping up but not getting ahead.  I thought they would just die on their own after a few days w/o a rotten banana or cantaloupe rind to feed on.

[HeroHog]

Set out a saucer of Apple Cider Vinegar and put a few drops of dish soap in it (to break the surface tension) and it will attract and drown the little buggers!

[Ron]

Hot water in drains isn’t enough if that’s where they’re coming from.

The Apple cider vinegar and soap works to catch them.

[230RN]

Drain flies?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain_fly

You have to also run hot water or a bit of Clorox into the emergency drain ports on sinks and plug or tape over the holes for a while.

They can come in from plants, too.  We had an infestation in the office after someone brought in a new potted plant and somehow they spread all over the place.

One place I worked a long time ago, the President would not allow any plants in the building.  I always wondered why, but I found out why later.

Just my $0.02.

Terry

[Ron]

Every fall I get little flies when I bring my plants in the house for the winter.

[230RN]

When I saw "fruit fly," I immediately thought of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly ("medfly") invasion some time ago.  That's the one where they released millions of sterile (in the reproductive sense) flies to eradicate them and hyper-environmentalist Governor Jerry Brown would not allow aerial spraying for them.  His delayed action apparently caused a lot of damage to California's fruit crops.

See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratitis_capitata

especially the section on "California Fruit Fly Crises."

Cf also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique

Terry

[zxcvbob]

https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/fly-table-summary.html

These don't look like anything on that chart.  They kinda look like Drosophila but they are maybe a little larger, black, and I haven't noticed red eyes.  (never heard of drain flies before, and these don't look anything like that)

https://tomsmith.bandcamp.com/track/go-drosophila-go

[RoadKingLarry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q

[Declaration Day]

I've battled those little bastards before.

1.  Use the aforementioned apple cider vinegar trick, but cover the bowl with plastic wrap and punch holes in it with a fork or toothpick.  You will trap / drown more of them that way.

2.  Pour a small amount of bleach into each water drain that's in your house, including your toilet bowls.  Re-apply as necessary.

3.  Get all empty pop / beer cans and bottles out of your house.

I've eradicated them within a week by following these steps.  Good luck.