Oct 23, 2011 – Looking For the Sources
QUESTION:
How can we get rid of fruit flies or gnats in a home and what chemical can I use?
ANSWER:
There are a great many insecticides labeled for use on vinegar flies and other miscellaneous small flying gnats. However, all of these chemicals need to be set aside for the moment and a few other steps taken first if the control is going to be successful. There is no doubt that any insecticide will kill any adult fly, but fogging or spraying surfaces for fly management does not get to the real problem, which is that somewhere in this home there is some unsanitary situation that is supporting these flies, and until that "contributing" condition is found and repaired you would continue to have the production of adult flies.
Fly control must begin, as does pretty much all pest management, with Identification. If you do not know exactly who your adversary is you cannot know about its biology and likely breeding habitats. "Gnats" could refer to fungus gnats, midges, phorid flies, drain flies, or vinegar flies, and each of these could have a very different breeding resource. Fungus gnats often breed in wet soils, and indoor potted plants become wonderful places for them to breed. Drain flies love the buildup of crud in sink and floor drains, and these must be discovered and cleaned, and then KEPT clean so that the breeding does not continue in the future. Vinegar flies go for anything that is fermenting, and this time of year there can be a lot of outdoor resources for them as vegetable gardens and fruit trees are abandoned and the tomatoes and apples hit the ground and begin to rot. This then could result in a lot of these flies finding their way indoors, so exterior cleanup may be important too. On the inside it could be damaged or old fruits and veggies on the counters, old soda or beer bottles with liquid still inside them, or in the case of the Dark-eyed fruit fly even more possibilities. This species and Phorid flies can breed in all the same places that either vinegar flies or drain flies will breed, so determining just what kind of fly or gnat you have is important, and then inspecting to find the breeding sources Step 2.
This really does offer an opportunity to professional pest control companies. You provide the expertise to your customers of knowing how to identify the pest, how to search for the SOURCE of that pest, and how to eliminate the problem at its source. For drain, phorid, and fungus gnats this might lead to a monthly application of drain cleaning products to every drain in the home, and for a nominal fee that is reasonable to the customer but profitable to you. Most of the drain cleaning products now are either enzyme or bacteria based, and are considered non-toxic to people and pets.
Sometimes you may look at the presence of these persistent little flies as a signal that something inside the structure has a problem. Commonly phorid flies breed by the thousands in the soil under a slab where pipes have broken, allowing gray water or sewage to flow under the slab. Fungus gnats may indicate some excessive moisture condition inside walls or under sinks. And vinegar flies are telling us that something is rotting or fermenting that should have been disposed of. Once you are able to locate the source of the problem - that place where the larvae of these flies are developing - it can be corrected and the breeding source eliminated. At that point you may find a need to lightly fog the rooms with pyrethrum to kill off lingering adult flies, but to rely on pesticides initially for fly management is likely to have disappointing results.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
How can we get rid of fruit flies or gnats in a home and what chemical can I use?
ANSWER:
There are a great many insecticides labeled for use on vinegar flies and other miscellaneous small flying gnats. However, all of these chemicals need to be set aside for the moment and a few other steps taken first if the control is going to be successful. There is no doubt that any insecticide will kill any adult fly, but fogging or spraying surfaces for fly management does not get to the real problem, which is that somewhere in this home there is some unsanitary situation that is supporting these flies, and until that "contributing" condition is found and repaired you would continue to have the production of adult flies.
Fly control must begin, as does pretty much all pest management, with Identification. If you do not know exactly who your adversary is you cannot know about its biology and likely breeding habitats. "Gnats" could refer to fungus gnats, midges, phorid flies, drain flies, or vinegar flies, and each of these could have a very different breeding resource. Fungus gnats often breed in wet soils, and indoor potted plants become wonderful places for them to breed. Drain flies love the buildup of crud in sink and floor drains, and these must be discovered and cleaned, and then KEPT clean so that the breeding does not continue in the future. Vinegar flies go for anything that is fermenting, and this time of year there can be a lot of outdoor resources for them as vegetable gardens and fruit trees are abandoned and the tomatoes and apples hit the ground and begin to rot. This then could result in a lot of these flies finding their way indoors, so exterior cleanup may be important too. On the inside it could be damaged or old fruits and veggies on the counters, old soda or beer bottles with liquid still inside them, or in the case of the Dark-eyed fruit fly even more possibilities. This species and Phorid flies can breed in all the same places that either vinegar flies or drain flies will breed, so determining just what kind of fly or gnat you have is important, and then inspecting to find the breeding sources Step 2.
This really does offer an opportunity to professional pest control companies. You provide the expertise to your customers of knowing how to identify the pest, how to search for the SOURCE of that pest, and how to eliminate the problem at its source. For drain, phorid, and fungus gnats this might lead to a monthly application of drain cleaning products to every drain in the home, and for a nominal fee that is reasonable to the customer but profitable to you. Most of the drain cleaning products now are either enzyme or bacteria based, and are considered non-toxic to people and pets.
Sometimes you may look at the presence of these persistent little flies as a signal that something inside the structure has a problem. Commonly phorid flies breed by the thousands in the soil under a slab where pipes have broken, allowing gray water or sewage to flow under the slab. Fungus gnats may indicate some excessive moisture condition inside walls or under sinks. And vinegar flies are telling us that something is rotting or fermenting that should have been disposed of. Once you are able to locate the source of the problem - that place where the larvae of these flies are developing - it can be corrected and the breeding source eliminated. At that point you may find a need to lightly fog the rooms with pyrethrum to kill off lingering adult flies, but to rely on pesticides initially for fly management is likely to have disappointing results.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
