We have an infestation, and I need help. We have two types of flies- regular fruit flies, and this other thing. The others are larger- up to a quarter inch long total, black-bodied, oval, with the body a little over half the length of the clear wings. I can’t find a picture of these online. The closest pictures are labeled fruit fly, but the coloration and size is very different between the two populations.
I found a bag of dead bell peppers that the fruit flies seemed to be coming from and removed it a few days ago, and set out fruit fly traps that have been very effective in rounding up the actual fruit flies, although there are still lots of them about. The others aren’t interested in the traps. These flies are evenly distributed across the walls and ceiling in the kitchen and two adjoining rooms. They don’t seem to be gathered anywhere, so I can’t tell where they are coming from. I tried some kitchen safe spray fly killer and it had some effect but the overall population is still huge.
What kind of flies do I have, where are they breeding, and how the heck do I get rid of them?
Those guys look like moths. These are sorta oval/cylindrical and solid black except for the clear wings.
Phorid flies, aka scuttle flies?
Hang up some good old-fashioned fly strips. They are available at most hardware and feed/pet stores as well as many drugstores.
Phorids are almost right, but the butt is round and not pointy in mine. Also, this says they are smaller than fruit flies, where mine are significantly larger.http://i.huffpost.com/gen/352939/HOW-TO-GET-RID-OF-FRUIT-FLIES.jpg Like this, except half again as large and solid black body, whereas the fruit flies are reddish.
There are 370 species of phorids in North America, so I wouldn’t rule them out based on an illustration of just one species.
True, but if all of them are identified by the scuttling thing, then these are not them.
Got a shop vac? Gets rid of 'em in a few minutes. I had a problem with regular houseflies a few years ago and someone here on the SDMB recommended that solution. Worked like a charm. I was snatching those suckers right out of the air.
Doesn’t work if there is a serious infestation. I had a dead mouse in the basement that was ground zero for an invasion. within days they were everywhere. It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Once they hit critical mass they will breed in waves. fumigate the house with smoke canister type bug killer and be done with it.
Chuck a chunk of bell pepper in a jar, and put a funnel on top. You already know they’re attracted to bell pepper; they’ll find their way down the funnel into the jar, but not back out.
I had fungus flies that sound like what you have. They were living in the potted plants. Black, roundish bodies with clear wings. A little bigger than a fruit fly. I would not call them strong fliers and they would be attracted somewhat to lights at night. The little maggots would infest the top layer of the dirt in the potted plants eating fungus or the smallest roots of the plants. They required a certain amount of dampness in this top layer of soil to survive, thus the instruction to allow the plants soil to dry a little between waterings. You might consider putting some sticky trap material set up in the patted plants and seeing what sticks. I got many. As they would hatch into a flying thing they would get stuck on the glue. I eventually got rid of them by using permethrin.
Blue bottles?
Actually bluebottles buzz, and you’d probably have mentioned buzzing so I guess not.
Blue and green bottle flies are pretty distinctive, with the metallic coloring. I can’t imagine someone being infested with bluebottles without mentioning the metallic blue.
Yeah, I’m thinking smoke bomb may be the answer. How do I do that without killing my fish in tanks?
By 1.) taking the fish(tanks) with you, or 2.) trying the non-bomb solutions first,
Are the larger flies slow moving? If so, you may have a dead rat or other critter somewhere in your walls, basement or attic.
No, they’re pretty nimble. I’ve seen the meat-eating flies before and these are different. I looked at a few on the fly strips we’ve put up, and they do have some of the hunch back from the scuttle fly, but they don’t scuttle but take to the air immediately. So I don’t know. There aren’t any on the same floor as our two potted plants, and they are black not metallic.
Another feature that I think I wasn’t clear on is that they are rounded-cylinder shaped, including wings. House flies and moths and drain flies have wings that extend to either side in the rear, like a paper airplane. These guys have wings that are parallel with the edges of their bodies until they end.