So, a couple of months ago, I ascertained that all four of the plants in my living room were infested with fungus gnats. I read about treatments and management, but in the end decided to get rid of all of the plants.
I did this a couple of days before Christmas, the end result being that I had zero plants in my apartment. I gradually stopped seeing the gnats and all was well for a little while.
Until recently. I’ve started seeing a couple here and there, sometimes in my office, or my bedroom, or the bathroom … I can’t figure out what’s going on. There aren’t any plants for them to breed in, I don’t leave any kind of food out, and my apartment is kept very neat and clean. Given that I read that the life cycle of these gnats is about four weeks, I’d expect to not see any by this point.
What sneaky stuff are they up to, and what can I do?
There are some gnat-type creatures that live in moist places like bathroom sink drains - they look a lot like fungus gnats, but don’t live on/in plants. Although I am a horticulturalisy, I have no indoor plants (thanks, kittycats!) and I see these critters in the bathroom sometimes.
No, they aren’t fruit flies; they are fungus gnats. I’ve done the research based on what they look like (which is nothing like fruit flies) and how they behave (that is, feeding on / breeding in my plants).
I suppose it’s possible that upon finding no more plants to use, they sought out an alternate place to do their thing, maybe in a drain or something. I’m having trouble finding out if that is common behavior for them, though.
I think what you have are Moth Flies - do they fly a little bit better than the fungus gnats? (Fungus gnats pretty much stay VERY close to the soil, and fly just a few inches at a time)
Check out this site for a pretty good flys-in-houses comparison.