Help! I just found some bugs flying around my girls!

[justcurious70]

I just noticed a couple of flying insects flying around in the spare shower where my girls are! My entire property including the lawn is treated for pests at least 4 times a year, and I NEVER see ANYTHING, not even outside.

Here's one of the little flying #$@(*'s held with a pair of hemostats under 17x magnification:



PLEASE tell me this is nothing to worry about and that there's some quick and easy fix! PLEASE?!?!?

Thanks!

 

[justcurious70]

BTW, the plants don't have any yellowing or other abnormalities other than a couple of purple stems on some of the first fan leaves. HELP!

 

[Carne Seca]

Did you accidentally pull off the wings or are they still on the insect? It's hard to tell with that photo. I would say it's some type of fruit fly or fruit gnat. Can you capture another one that's a little more intact?

 

[justcurious70]

Did you accidentally pull off the wings or are they still on the insect? It's hard to tell with that photo. I would say it's some type of fruit fly or fruit gnat. Can you capture another one that's a little more intact?

Yes, I think his wings were lost in the struggle. Aww man! The pic isn't that bad for one taken using a 17x jewelers loupe and a cell phone camera! My lights just went off so I'll have to try to find another example tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[Carne Seca]

Yes, I think his wings were lost in the struggle. Aww man! The pic isn't that bad for one taken using a 17x jewelers loupe and a cell phone camera! My lights just went off so I'll have to try to find another example tomorrow.

Thanks!

The wing design will give a good indication what type of bug it is. If you can get one with the wings intact then it'll be easier to identify. Try using a fly strip.

 

[justcurious70]

I didn't think about a fly strip. Just happen to have a couple!

I see what you mean about the wings. I've found several fruit fly pictures that have nearly identical bodies, but without wings its tough to say.

Thanks!

 

[Mort Fink]

Looks like a fungus gnat to me, till the top layer of the soil in your pots. Do you see little flies running around in the soil. They will sometimes fly away but usually scatter first in the soil because they are overall poor fliers.

 

[Carne Seca]

fungus gnats have a completely different body type. But, it really is hard to identify without the wings.

 

[ssj4jonathan]

fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).... They usually have brick red eyes and pale body color, like the one in your picture. Gnat flies have a black body and black eyes and are a little smaller than fruit flies. Best way to fight these pest to by going to home depot and buying Victor Fly Catcher, a sticky ribbon placed near infested site, also make sure to removing any rotten fruits from home, and throw some bleach down kitchen sink.

 

[Mort Fink]

Im gonna have to disagree with you guys. I guess everyone's got their own take on it. Look at my picture of the fungus gnat and notice the tiger like strips that go from black to tanish on the body. The same black to tanish tiger strips appear in the first post of the thread. Same body shape and same markings/colorations lead me to believe that this is in fact a fungus gnat. Also Im seeing black eyes in the original pic not red. Did you find any in the top layer of soil?

 

[justcurious70]

I've gone over the top layer of soil with a 17x loupe and don't see anything. I stuck a fly strip and jar of vinegar and sugar with a funnel in there last night, but so far I haven't seen anything in/on either. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but don't fungus gnats cause visible problems (yellow leaves, etc.) with the plants?

Since the fix for fungus gnats is covering the top layer of soil with perlite or sand (right???), I'm going to do that anyway as a precaution. I'll leave the fly strips and vinegar/sugar jar in there as well.

Thanks for the input and I'll keep everyone posted!

 

[Mort Fink]

Actually stir the top 1/2 inch of soil around, thats when you see them or when your watering you see them as well. Fungus gnats usually are more of a pest than anything else, unless your infested and the larvae will eat out your plants roots, but that usually only affects younger plants.

 

[justcurious70]

Okay, just stirred the soil and still don't see anything. My jar or fly strips haven't caught anything either. Could the few that I killed be all of them?

 

[Mort Fink]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it unless you see them again. Keep the strips out for sure though.

 

[justcurious70]

Yep, that's the plan. Thanks for the assist everyone! Nice to have such knowledgeable folks just a post away!

 

[ssj4jonathan]

Im gonna have to disagree with you guys. I guess everyone's got their own take on it. Look at my picture of the fungus gnat and notice the tiger like strips that go from black to tanish on the body. The same black to tanish tiger strips appear in the first post of the thread. Same body shape and same markings/colorations lead me to believe that this is in fact a fungus gnat. Also Im seeing black eyes in the original pic not red. Did you find any in the top layer of soil?

As you can see fruit flys also have delineated stripes across their thorax, and their main phenotype for eye color is brick red, however, they can have black and even white (recessive trait) eye colors. Fruit flies are about 2 times larger than fungus gnats and lighter in color. You can stir up the soil all you want, and as you have noticed, nothing pops out (this will not be the case for fungus gnats, they thrive in moist soil). That is so, because fruit flies do not lay their eggs in soil; they usually brood in rotting fruit (fungus--found in soil--isn't their main choice of food), as their larvae prefer fungus found in rotting fruit. They also like dirty moist environments like the kitchen sink drain, or a mop. Find their main source of food and this will serve to eliminate their emergence. I do believe however they can live off the buds of Cannabis as well, so population control may be you best option. A good spot to place a sticky ribbon is on the ceiling of your window recess, so that it is hanging in front of the window. Leave your window curtains open or remove your shades and flies will fly straight into it as they love light and try to escape through the window. Hope this helps!

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