Small flies - Ready to declare war. Ideas?

[IronWing]

Here. Do this.

 

[Leros]

Put out a glass of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish detergent mixed in. I've had really good success with this method. Kills 99% of the population within 24 hours.

 

[Ns1]

Put out a glass of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish detergent mixed in. I've had really good success with this method. Kills 99% of the population within 24 hours.

I've never gotten anywhere near 99% with this method, and definitely not within 24 hours.

 

[edro]

Vinegar / dish soap in multiple bowls around the kitchen.
It takes a few days, but it works.

 

[waggy]

I've never gotten anywhere near 99% with this method, and definitely not within 24 hours.

me neither. in fact i haven't ever had good luck doing that

 

[Pulsar]

Chop up some apples, bananas, poor some honey on that shit, all on a oven-safe pan.

Open your oven.

Put it in your oven.

Leave your oven open overnight.

Next morning. Get up. Close your oven. Turn on 450 for 15 minutes.

Profit.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I've never gotten anywhere near 99% with this method, and definitely not within 24 hours.

Maybe you have hipster flies that want a single malt

 

[richardycc]

Use a dish pan full of hot water and add an ounce or two of dish soap into the hot water. place this dish pan under the kitchen recessed light or a table with a bright light source that shines down from above. the idea is to shine the light into hot water. Sit down and watch the flies dive into the hot water like flies on shit.

 

[3spooky5u]

 

[eldorado99]

Does the tiger have any rental income though??

 

[Iron Woode]

I hate those little fruit flies.

We get them all the time at work. Usually they die off in fall/winter due to the cold.

I have some in my apt but I just kill them as I see them. Starving them is very effective.

If he has large groups or clouds of them, he could consider using a blast of Raid. Just make sure it is away from food or dishes and stuff.

 

[massmedia]

if they are fruit flies it is easy to test and they are very easy to trap.
they are probably fruit flies
your brother should move all fruit to the fridge for now and keep the sink clean

1. get some powdered yeast.
2. get a small glass that has a narrow mouth
3. put some powdered yeast in glass
4. add a tiny amount of lukewarm water to yeast powder... mix to a paste like consistency using a spoon handle, use as much water as needed adding in small amounts... too much water.. then add more powder... you want a paste in the bottom of the glass
5. get a sheet of paper, the stiffer the better (cardstock is best)
6. make a cone lengthwise with the sheet of paper with the smallest hole possible at one end. the cone needs to be FAT at the top so that when you set it in the glass it won't touch the bottom. tape the cone together and "seal the seams" on the paper cone using tape.
7. put the cone point down into glass... if it touches the yeast you havefailed, make a new cone
8. if the hole on the end of the cone is too small adjust it using a sharp pencil, or such... it should be very small... just largeenough for the flies to enter
9. seal the cone onto the rim of the glasswith tape... completely seal

trim the extrapamer from the cone... no reason for it to be too big... the smaller the cone lip above the glass the better

now you have the most effective fruit fly trap known to mankind
if the flies collect on the cone but don't enter your hole is too small

when your trap is full of flies fill it with water deprive the flies of oxygen by filling the glass with water (cone still attached).

dispose of trap and make a new one, or several and distribute around infested apt.

 

[massmedia]

you can also use RED vinegar such as balsamic instead of yeast... but yeast works best

 

[massmedia]

good trap... except the fruit is silly... again yeast is way more effective

terrible trap below... the hole is too large and the flies will go in and out at their leisure

 

[massmedia]

you'll get 99% with this method and a few traps

 

[massmedia]

btw

i used to work in a fruit fly genetics lab... probably millions of flies in small vials.
this is how we trapped those that escaped.

YEAST

 

[Red Squirrel]

Cyonara 9.7.

Spray that on everything. They will die and so will every other bug including spiders.

It smells good too.

 

[slag]

I have had luck keeping flies away by hanging ziplock bags of water. I've been told something with the way the light reflects through it messes with their eyes and keeps them away.

Something is attracting the flies to the apartment, though. Perhaps, you aren't removing your trash enough (daily?). You don't have to leave food out for a week to get flies, just a few days in a closed garbage bin is enough to start a colony, from what I've found.

I tried this before but the water leaks out where I put the safety pin through to attach it to the string and the floor gets soaked. Not to mention, I also have to refill the bags every 5 minutes.

 

[Jeff7]

Got a camera with a decent macro lens? Any chance of a photo?



I've got a small variety of succulents in my livingroom, including some lithops. I'm three short these past two months though. I've also got a few small flies here and there, and their larvae like to chew right into the roots of the lithops. They'll go from looking lively and normal to shriveled and dead in under 2 days. :\

Then it the whole thing gets pulled out, roots and all, and the larvae are treated to a cleansing bath in rubbing alcohol.

Cyonara 9.7.

Spray that on everything. They will die and so will every other bug including spiders.

It smells good too.

This amuses me.
"Here is a substance that is a potent soup of various toxins and poisons that can kill insects in a matter of seconds. Smells nice though, doesn't it?"

Meanwhile we put powerful bittering agents into cans of computer duster.



If we ever get into chemical weaponry again, they should be made to smell like bacon or beer.

 

[CZroe]

Got a camera with a decent macro lens? Any chance of a photo?



I've got a small variety of succulents in my livingroom, including some lithops. I'm three short these past two months though. I've also got a few small flies here and there, and their larvae like to chew right into the roots of the lithops. They'll go from looking lively and normal to shriveled and dead in under 2 days. :\

Then it the whole thing gets pulled out, roots and all, and the larvae are treated to a cleansing bath in rubbing alcohol.




This amuses me.
"Here is a substance that is a potent soup of various toxins and poisons that can kill insects in a matter of seconds. Smells nice though, doesn't it?"

Meanwhile we put powerful bittering agents into cans of computer duster.



If we ever get into chemical weaponry again, they should be made to smell like bacon or beer.

No macro lens, but here are a few where I tried to determine what they were attracted to the other day:

For size, that's a small spoon in the meat shots. Don't worry, I didn't waste the meat (gave it to a hungry dog a couple hour later). You can tell that I was in the middle of cleaning the stove when I left this morning. When I came back a couple hours later they were all over the milk jug that I had thoroughly rinsed inside and out before leaving. Something tells me they like it better than the jug of distiller water next to it purely because the exterior surface was wet (not attracted to the milk).

The eyes are dark and smaller than typical fruit flies. I made one trap with apple cider vinegar and another with yeast paste and they both have a few already. I made a third with yeast paste and put it in the bathroom so it will not interfere with my effectiveness comparison in the kitchen area.

 

[CZroe]

I did a couple things to hopefully increase the attractiveness of the traps. I swirled the apple cider vinegar around to coat the sides of the glass and I poked several pinholes in the cone so that it would vent a bit better. The paste in one of my yeast traps bubbled and rose up to touch the tip of the cone despite having plenty of clearance before so rebuilt it and smeared the yeast around the sides in a big doughnut. They all have many flies already.

 

[Puppies04]

we get them. with kids and tons of fruit we always end up with fruit flies.

best solution i found is a beer, drink the beer and you won't give a crap about the fruit flies anymore

FTFY

 

[GasX]

perhaps they are drain flies

 

[Sonikku]

Next time put the body in the freezer.

 

[CZroe]

Though the activated yeast is definitely more effective than apple cider vinegar, the apple cider vinegar is certainly attracting them as well. I could see thousands of eggs laid in the vinegar. Would it be against the Geneva Convention to activate the yeast with apple cider vinegar instead of water? Some factions of my army may have already taken it upon themselves to do just such a thing.

Should I consider adding sugar to the yeast?

perhaps they are drain flies

Nope. Those have rounded wings and aren't nearly as annoying. I call them "urinal flies" because that's the only place I ever see them.