Talk about bugging the hell out of someone lol

15 years I have been in my apartment and have NEVER had bugs of any kind, with the occasional exception being those damn stink bugs that get in some times.

That is until not quite two weeks ago when I noticed these little brown/black fuckers hanging around my coffee maker. Best I can figure from googling is gnats or drain flies. I can't figure out where they are coming from and even worse, I can't figure out how to get rid of them.

I have several traps around the area, some homemade and some store bought, none of which seem do be doing a whole lot of anything. I have even tried Raid and Ortho sprays and even that barely seems to have any actual effect. I don't have any food or garbage laying around, I'm not a "slob" in any sense. I am at a loss here and I have no idea what the hell to do or try next.

I had that a couple of weeks ago. Turned out to be a spoiled (liquefying) potato. Bag was in a basket on a shelf. Can’t believe I didn’t smell it. I looked for a week.

You live in an apartment. The bugs may be coming from an adjoining unit. Check around all the pipes in the kitchen.

There are some Do-It-Yourself Pest Control stores around here. If there's one near you, put one or two of the bugs in a jar and take it to the store. They will be able to ID the insect and sell you whatever you need to get rid of them.

A close up picture of the pests would be helpful.

I had moved into a duplex once and after being there for a week or so, found my cat was having a great time chasing cockroaches. Prior to me moving in, the kitchen was completely bare so nothing to attract them until I brought food in.
They were coming in from the other side of the duplex.

I grew up with those mofos from day 1. Don't like em much.

Second time in 30 years I have them. Try HotShot flying insect killer.
Can of aerosol fogger. Close windows, spray around windows drapes, sinks etc.
Spray the rest up toward the ceilings. leave house come back in an hour and air it out.
Iv'e treated twice and I think I got about 98% of them. Hopefully one more will
take em out.

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
I had that a couple of weeks ago. Turned out to be a spoiled (liquefying) potato. Bag was in a basket on a shelf. Can’t believe I didn’t smell it. I looked for a week.

Same happened to me. A housemate bought a bag of potatoes and stored it in the pantry behind a bunch of other stuff. He forgot about them, and it took me several days to figure out what & where the source of flies was. When I found them, it was a bag of black mush harvesting little black flies.

Many years ago, I was seeing bugs every Tuesday before work. Always around the cat food / pantry area, never any other day of the week, and they'd never be there after work. I remember it was Tuesday because I had a cleaning service on Tuesdays and they commented on it. Several times, I thought what they did or I did had worked and then the little bastards would be back the following Tuesday. Unbeknownst to me, I had something bad in the back of my pantry and its hatch cycle was 7 days. I had to pull everything out one at a time until I found the culprit.

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In 2021, the Houston area had a really bad drain fly outbreak and I got 'em in both kitchen and MBR sinks. Foaming drano and other products were sold out everywhere. I took a multifaceted approach:

I placed traps by every sink. This is just treating the symptoms so do not stop at just this.

I ordered foaming drain cleaner off Amazon and dumped it down every sink. This is key as this is where they're hatching from. I repeated every few days.

I closed every sink drain in the house in between uses.

Every time I used the sink I ran the water until it was hot, then I opened the drain to flush the little hatchlings and to make sure the u-trap was full of hot water.

I had to do this for an extended period of time. Can't remember how long it was, but it was more than a week.

If you put some tape down and cover your drains with said tape overnight, in the morning when you pull the tape off it will tell you if they are actually drain flies or not since they will be stuck to the tape

Thanks all. I will look into the diy bug places. I don't remember ever seeing anything like that around me but I never actually looked eather I guess.
I had thought about the fogger type of stuff but I have a cat and don't have anywhere I could stash him for the duration, but I will look and see what's available that might be pet friendly.

quote:

Originally posted by PakRatJR:

Thanks all. I will look into the diy bug places. I don't remember ever seeing anything like that around me but I never actually looked eather I guess.

There are several stores like this in my local area:



Try google: "Do it yourself pest control near me"

They can also originate in house plants if you have any.

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
They can also originate in house plants if you have any.

My wife, bless her heart, puts house plants outside in the summer. As fall arrives, she brings them inside and places them by the windows. I immediately spray the soil of the plants with Ortho Home Defense bug spray. The little black bugs lay their eggs in the soil! Every new house plant gets treated as well.

Fruits and vegtables laying around for more than 5 or 6 days will make them magically appear.

I call'em fruit flies.
Also wrap all of your peels or compostables in something if you put it in the garbage.

I was thinking while reading the title there had to be a G. Gordon Liddy joke in here somewhere?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

I call'em fruit flies.

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
-- Groucho Marx

So I'm sitting at work and I had a thought. People throw away food related garbage here in garbage cans that don't get emptied daily.
I just happened to notice a bunch of these bugs hanging in and around one of the cans in my area.
Is it possible that I somehow brought them home with me at some point??? I have been through my kitchen quite thoroughly and have yet to figure out where they have been coming from.

Contact management and let them know.
They will come in and spray. also tell them your track record has been good with no issues.
you get neighbors who are slobs and they will spread to your area no matter how hard you try.