What is with the small flies flying around the house in the winter? Most often these flies are fungus gnats, drain flies or fruit flies. These flies lay lots of eggs and can become an infestation overnight.
It doesn't take long for your kitchen to become inundated with fruit flies. Fruit flies will breed on fruit and before you know it there are flies everywhere. Removing the source of the problem is the first step in getting rid of them for good. In most cases just cleaning up the source will rid your home of these pests but in some cases pesticides may be needed.
Fungus gnats are almost always caused from indoor plants that are over watered or water-logged. It creates the perfect environment for for fungus gnats to thrive and breed. You can tell if fungus gnats are coming from your plants by simply banging on the side of the planter. If an infestation exists, you will see the small gnats fly up out of the soil. Because eggs may have been laid in the soil, you may be dealing with fungus gnats for 3-4 weeks which is the time it takes from egg to adult. If you can allow the soil to dry out (especially the top 2 inches) the fungus gnats will not re-infest the soil. If this problem has gone on for a long time, pesticide applications may need to be made.
Drain flies (shown in the above photo) like the gunk that accumulates in your pipes. They will go down into the pipe and lay their eggs in the pipe by sticking them into the gunk. Having a professional clean the pipes will usually get rid of the gunk and therefore the drain flies too. Sometimes pesticide applications must be made to get the adult population under control.
Let plants dry between watering, clean the gunk out of your drains and remove infested fruits & vegetables to cure these infestations. For more information or to schedule a service, call 1-800-649-9992.
