Help! What are these, why are they here, and how do I make them go away?
Posted by terracotta-cinnamon@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 14 comments
[removed]
Posted by terracotta-cinnamon@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 14 comments
[removed]
Prolixdelivery@reddit
They look like drain flies - please check on Wiki
ukbot-nicolabot@reddit
OP marked this as the best answer, given by /u/knightsbridge-.
^(What is this?)
knightsbridge-@reddit
They do look like fruit flies or house flies, though the photo isn't very clear.
Look for hidden pieces of food. These look like freshly hatched baby flies. They lay their eggs on decomposing food.
If they're near the bin, check under it, the underside of the lid, any food that's missed the bag and fallen in the bottom of the bin etc and any cupboards nearby.
Personal horror story: Last year, our kitchen was invaded by exactly this kind of cloud of baby flies. I had no idea where they were coming from or why. After a few days of nuking them with fly spray and having them immediately replaced by new ones, I tore the kitchen apart to look for the source. I eventually found a bag of potatoes that'd for some reason been pushed to the back of a cupboard that we don't normally keep food in (it's there "hand mixer, mixing bowls, minor appliances I never use etc" cupboard). The potatoes were extremely rotten and lying in a pool of disgusting fluids - they were so far back in the very bottom cupboard that I couldn't smell them with the doors closed. Thankfully.
Extremely disgusting. Getting rid of them and cleaning up and sanitising the cupboard got rid of the flies.
terracotta-cinnamon@reddit (OP)
!answer
terracotta-cinnamon@reddit (OP)
Thank you! Yes I think this is it. I did a very thorough clean and they seem to have disappeared for now so hopefully they will stay away. During cleaning I found half a bunch of grapes under a modular shelving unit so I think that may have been the culprit!
Exact-Strife@reddit
Like other said, find if there some forgotten piece of food somewhere rotting away. To get rid of the infestation though, make a trap by pouring apple cider into a shallow container (something like tupperware, needs to be wide with walls that are not too high), add a drop or two of dish detergent and then place it somewhere where it's not too drafty or with too many air disturbances in general. It should get rid of a good chunk of them in a week or so.
kingkarl123@reddit
Check for food. This happened to me and i eventually found a small rotten apple behind the radiator!
greenybrowny@reddit
💯 this, also, it doesn’t have to be fruit, one of my kids left a sliver of plastic from a pack of bacon which managed to end up under the edge of the microwave, SO many tiny flies couldn’t work out why, then found the plastic 😫
terracotta-cinnamon@reddit (OP)
Oh that’s interesting thank you! They are congregating around the bin area so maybe something has fallen behind it.
Upstairs-Box@reddit
Time flies like an arrow fruit flies like a banana lol if they have colour like red eyes light brown bodies then fruit flies otherwise probably drain flies if you have lots of plants sometimes fungus gnats appear too
Itchy-Researcher-116@reddit
Yes, this 👆
ahoneybadger3@reddit
Had similar when I had a pack of onions I'd bunged into a cupboard that I never use.
Took around 2 weeks before I found the issue and was fuming by the time. Just couldn't work out where they were coming from.
RemoveCommercial2989@reddit
Could be drain flies? Looks like something I had in my kitchen. I looked up what to do and it was mixing baking soda,vinegar and something else,maybe salt? If you Google it will tell you. Also,keep the stopper in the kitchen sink unless you're using it.
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