Little teeny flying bugs

What are these? They are everywhere and I find them on the walls, the floor, the kitty food bowls.

I vacuum them up and spray raid and they die but there are more?

Do I need an exterminator?

I checked the cats for fleas thinking they could be fleas..but nothing on them.

Re: Little teeny flying bugs

Do you have fruit out on the counter? I notice these little bugs sometimes when I have fruit remnants in the garbage or out on the counter.

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I don't now but I sometimes do.

It seems like those are the bugs.

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I agree sounds like fruit flies!

I have heard taht if you keep basil by the fruit that you wont get them but never tried it

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fruit flies are the worst.
put all your fruit in the refrigerator, wipe down all your counters and your garbage and they'll usually go away within a day or so. I despise them.

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I get those too! They are so annoying!

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we've had a basil plant on our window sill for many months now. I recently got a Cilantro plant as well to put there, and within a few days we had fruit flies everywhere!

i got rid of the cilantro plant and the fruit flies went away

they're so annoying! You just have to get rid of the offending source and wipe everything down and they'll eventually go away

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Are they hard shelled or not? Hard shelled, I found we would get these if there was something old in the pantry. If they are fruit fly type things, I only notice them if an old banana is sitting out or something like that.

Check around for some old food somewhere.

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Fruit Flies?

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Definitely sounds like fruit flies. Believe or not, a lot of the time they come through your drain - thats the first place to go to get rid of them.

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Could be drain flies too- we get them and they are so friggin annoying! Chlorox cleanup kills them on contact. If you notice them mostly in your bathroom and kitchen, make sure you spray your drains and tape over them before going to bed for a few days. As long as everything is kept super clean and dry for a week or 2, should go away.

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we just went through this for the last few months!!!

We actual have an annual pest control plan because I'm up north and get lots of little pests so we were lucky to have some help to figure it out.

First I thought they were fruit flies and put all my fruit in the fridge and cleaned everything!!! Wiped everythign down with Chlorox wipes, etcs. It did nothing. So I called in the pest people and they said they were drain flies. Treated it. Helped but they came back. Treated it again. Helped and they came back (repeat several times!)


They searched the house and they found a leak in my bathroom. Had a plumber come in fix the leak, dried out the wall, resheetrocked the wall, etc. Again helped but they came back.

They brought in their supervisor and took some bugs to test. They said we had phorid flies, which are attracted to water and food. So you need both for them to stay and breed. They weren't drain flies. We were all stumped. If you knew me you'd know I'm crazy about cleaning up food. Never a dirty dish in my sink for more than the meal and no crumbs in my kitchen, but yet I had all these freaky bugs flying around!!

After several guys coming in and looking around one of them realized the kitchen sink wasn't caulked properly and water was seeping under the counters. BINGO! So after 4 months of trying to figure out what the heck was causing these pesty bugs we finally figured it out.

I just figured my long winded experience could help you look around and maybe find something that could be attracting them!! Good luck!!

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if they are fruit flies you can put a glass on the counter wth about an inch of apple cider vinegar and make a paper funnel to stick in the top. they are attracted to the vinegar and fly in the cup, but once they fly in, they can't fly out.

wait a day or so and you will see a bunch collected in there...make sure to open it up outside so none of the ones still alive can fly right back around the house.....


gross i know, but works like a charm.....hopefully there are no fruit fly lov ers out there....don't want to offend anyone that is all for saving the lives of the fruit flies

Re: Little teeny flying bugs

Posted by staceyums81

That is a crazy story but good to know - sorry you spent all that money on pest treatments

Message edited 8/23/2010 7:55:03 PM.

Re: Little teeny flying bugs

Posted by FinallyMJ

if they are fruit flies you can put a glass on the counter wth about an inch of apple cider vinegar and make a paper funnel to stick in the top. they are attracted to the vinegar and fly in the cup, but once they fly in, they can't fly out.

wait a day or so and you will see a bunch collected in there...make sure to open it up outside so none of the ones still alive can fly right back around the house.....


gross i know, but works like a charm.....hopefully there are no fruit fly lov ers out there....don't want to offend anyone that is all for saving the lives of the fruit flies

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We have them too and they are so annoying. We did the cup on the counter also, but used lemonade. For some reason they love it. Still have them around though so we will have to start checking for the offending plant and get rid of it (or try the drain thing since I'm not exactly sure of the source).

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they are cigarette or pantry beetles.

I found the offening old bag of cat food, cleaned out the cabinet and the drawer above it and it looks like the bugs are way less. Still some around but I think since the eggs or larvae are gone it will go away.