Once you know which drains the gnats are breeding in, you must deal with the root of the problem. A solid understanding of drain fly breeding grounds is necessary to completely eliminate these pests. The only way to get rid of drain flies for good is to eliminate their breeding sites. Particularly in restaurants and bars, the rotting and decaying particles of food and drink are flushed down the drains, both in the sink and the floor drains.
In restaurants, the most common moth fly breeding sites are sink and floor drains, grease traps, mops and mop tubs, and evaporation pans beneath the appliances. In restaurants and bars, fruit flies are often found breeding in obscure difficult to find locations. To the human eye, the area can appear pristine, but to a fruit fly a restaurant kitchen is a land of unbridled opportunity. Restaurant floors are often cleaned by hosing down the floor with a hose.
What Kills Gnats In Drains The pressure from the water hose can force organic debris into cracks and crevices on the floor. As this process is regularly repeated, the organic matter accumulates in corners and around the base of table legs, storage shelfs, and appliances. Accumulation of fruit and vegetable matter wrapped around the legs of a prep table can support fruit flies. The gunk that drips out of a trash bag into the can is enough to support fruit flies.
Spilled juice, bar mixers, and alcohol that accumulates under a blender or mixer is paradise for fruit flies. Loose tiles on the floor or backsplash can gather organic matter and harbor fruit fly eggs and larvae. Floor and sink drains, garbage disposals, and soda lines and drip pans are common areas for fruit flies to lay their eggs.
In a small business environment, make sure someone is assigned trash and recycle duty. Empty soda bottles and apple cores left around will undoubtedly draw in the fruit flies. Until all the breeding sites are located and cleaned fruit flies will continue to plague your restaurant or office break room. The adults you see are less than 10% of the total population.
Control of drain flies should be aimed at elimination of breeding sites. The most effective control method is to clean pipes and traps thoroughly to remove accumulated slime. Pouring hot water down the drain may provide short-term control. Drain fly larvae are difficult to drown because they are able to trap air bubbles and remain submerged for a day or more.
Do not pour insecticides down drains to kill drain flies. The drain fly life cycle takes from about 10 to 15 days at about 70° F. Groups of eggs are laid on gelatinous films of organic matter. Actual time varies with temperature, development is slower at lower temperatures but can continue through the year indoors. Phorid flies breed anywhere moist rotting material is present. Outdoors, in nature, phorid flies breed in sewage contaminated soil, dead animal carcasses, and trash.
However, indoors the breeding grounds are much more difficult to locate. But, in order to get rid of these troublesome gnats, these locations must be tracked down and cleaned of the organic matter. Even a small area of grime, can support thousands of phorid fly larvae. It is not always accurate to assume that the breeding site is near where you observe the adult phorid fly.
While they are not strong fliers, they tend to follow air currents and scatter about the location. In an infested structure, phorid flies often have more than one area where they lay their eggs. Do not stop looking once you have located one phorid fly breeding site, there are likely more sites close by. Remember, that phorid fly larvae can only survive in moist conditions. In addition to the usual places such as garbage disposals and trash cans, carefully inspect plumbing and drains in both kitchens and bathrooms. Carefully inspect crawl spaces, wall voids near plumbing issues, and basements where moisture issues are known.
Phorid fly breeding grounds can be notoriously complicated to locate. However, the organic material that fruit flies, drain flies, and phorid flies use as breeding grounds are rarely as obvious as a carcass or a raw meatball. These small flies, often generally referred to as gnats, are attracted to the organic matter that is not so readily apparent. Specifically in commercial kitchens, the floors should be cleaned nightly with either a mop and bucket or by hosing the floor free of grease and debris.
This cleaning procedure tends to push tiny particles of organic matter into hard to reach and hard to clean areas. Organic grime or sludge begins to accumulate in corners or uneven areas on the floor. Organic matter accumulates in the places where the tables and appliances meet the floor. The floor and sink drains often have layers of goo and grime.
Unless these areas are cleaned by hand on a regular basis, they will become prime breeding grounds for gnats of all kinds, phorid flies, drain flies, and fruit flies. Rather than sticking to rotting fruits and vegetables favored by the fruit fly, phorid flies also will reproduce in ANY rotting liquidy organic matter. Their favorite foods also include decaying flesh and feces. While this may seem unlikely in a restaurant kitchen or hospital cafeteria, consider for a moment the amount of raw meat that is brought into these areas every day. If a bit of raw hamburger is caught in the crevices of the prep table and remains stuck for any period of time phorid flies will be drawn inside. To eliminate phorid flies, you must locate the breeding site and clean it of any organic matter.
Phorid flies are common both in mausoleums, and in garbage disposals. Phorid flies are common in sewer pipes and sink and floor drains. They have been found breeding in mop buckets, and in that tight space where tables and large appliances meet the floor. Phorid flies will lay eggs in meat juice that has dripped from a garbage bag. The gnats that circle the drains and hover over the fruit basket are technically flies.
Gnat is a generic term for these small pesky flies that invade our homes and businesses. To understand how to get rid of these pests, it is first important to understand their life cycle. An understanding of how and where they breed is fundamental to controlling these pests both in a residential and a commercial setting. When a customer refers to gnats, they are usually referring to fruit flies, drain flies, phorid flies, or fungus gnats.
Each of these species of flies has the capacity for exponential reproduction if the life cycle is not interrupted. The only effective way to get rid of gnats for good is to eliminate the breeding sites. Like other gnats, drain flies develop through complete metamorphosis, meaning they complete egg, larvae, pupae, and adult stages. The drain fly can complete its life cycle in as few as eight days, but may take longer depending upon the conditions.
The female moth fly, or drain fly, will only lay her eggs on nearly saturated organic matter. She prefers the slimy gelatinous film common to overlooked drains. Once the eggs have been laid, they generally hatch in about 48 hours and emerge as drain fly larvae. Drain fly larvae cannot be disposed of by running water down the drain. They have the unique ability to capture air bubbles and survive underwater for about a day.
It is in your business' best interest to hire competent and professional support to combat and prevent drain flies from infesting your business. When people complain of gnats, they may actually be speaking of drain flies. Drain flies are also called sewer flies, sewer gnats, sink flies, or moth flies. Sometimes phorid flies and fruit flies are incorrectly called Drain flies because they can come out of a drain. Drain flies do not bite, but do present an unsanitary appearance in your home or business. Drain flies also risk the spreading of pathogens and bacteria around your home or business.
Drain flies are most commonly found resting on the walls of a bathroom with a seldom used sink, shower, or floor drain. Female drain flies lay their eggs on the side of drains in the slime that accumulates on the surface. Without this slimy organic environment, drain flies cannot reproduce. If you have ever had a fruit fly, drain fly or sewer fly problem, then you completely understand how incredibly insane they can make you. Each of their lifecycles differs but the one thing they all have in common is that they live to breed, lay eggs and be irritating.
Some can lay up to 300 to 400 eggs, which then can hatch to become adults in as little as a few days, starting the cycle over again. The first and most important thing is to identify their food source. So all we could do is in continually fight the little flying $#@%#&! None were instantaneous, and none were completely effective.
Most started getting expensive as you have to keep buying the sticky cards for the UV traps. If you are unsure if small flies or gnats are breeding in your drains, you can perform a simple test. Place tape over a drain leaving a little room for air flow. When you check the tape in the morning, if flies are breeding in this drain, you will find some stuck on your tape.
You will then know that this is a drain you need to thoroughly clean. Do not pour bleach or pesticide down the drain, it will not solve your problem. Using a stiff wire brush, scrape all of the organic grime out of the crevices of the drain.
Once you have physically removed as much filth as you can, consider using an enzyme based cleaning product. These products contain live microbes that eliminate the organic matter that flies breed in by essentially eating it. These products often have pleasant citrus odors and come in a variety of formulations. The easiest for the homeowner to apply is a thick viscous gel. Many people proactively use these products on a regular schedule… just to avoid this problem again. Whether you call them drain flies, sewer gnats, or sink flies, these small flies can quickly become a huge pain.
While they are harmless, they can get quite annoying when they buzz around your face. Unlike fungus gnats, which like to breed in the soggy soil in potted plants, drain gnats like to feed on the sewage and organic matter that is found in most drains. Here's how to get rid of drain gnats with simple, everyday ingredients.
Small homeowner versions of fly light traps will be more effective for trapping adult phorid flies in the home. However, any trap or device for gnats will only capture a portion of the adults. These gnats are prolific, and their life cycle will continue until you eliminate all of the breeding locations within your kitchen.
When small flies or gnats invade your home, you must locate the breeding site, clean it, and ensure it stays clean. It could be as simple as fruit flies laying eggs in the rotting peaches that are in your fruit basket. The problem could be that phorid fly larvae are thriving in the drip pan under the refrigerator. Drains should be free flowing and clean of organic grime and gunk. Whether you are battling, phorid flies, drain flies, or fruit flies, the truth remains, eliminate the breeding location, you eliminate the gnat.
A lot of people think they have fruit flies but fruit flies will usually be found infesting decaying fruits and vegetables and not as frequently in drains. Also, fruit flies will usually have red eyes which is a way to quickly distinguish them from drain flies. When you spot any insect inside your house, it's best to take action immediately before they get a chance to multiply. Just like pesky fruit flies, annoying gnats, and even fleas, drain flies are another common household insect that, well, bugs us.
Measuring a teeny one-eighth of an inch, drain flies tend to congregate around standing water. Gray or taupe in color with small, rounded wings, they're also called moth flies, sewer flies, or filter flies. And contrary to what their name suggests, they don't actually "fly" as much as they hop from surface to surface. Drain flies surprisingly can live for up to three weeks, and new eggs can hatch every 48 hours or so.
For these very reasons, you should act fast to eliminate drain flies for good using DIY home solutions or store-bought products. The best method of managing these flies is dealing with their breeding sites. Physically removing the moist sludge or slime that lines the drain pipes should stop the problem at its source.
Pouring boiling water and/or bleach down a drain may offer minor relief but will not fully remove the sludge. A hard bristled brush along with drain cleaner should be used to clean the lining of the pipes. Ideally the J trap under the sink should be cleaned as well. Regular applications of enzyme cleaners can help prevent future problems from developing. The conditions that allow gnats to proliferate in a commercial kitchen also breeds roaches, ants, large flies, and possibly rodents.
Any restaurant is at risk for pests in the kitchen and should invest in regular professional pest control service. Fly lights are always recommended for commercial kitchens. They not only help to catch an occasional fly that makes it past all other barriers, but they can act as a canary in the coal mine. While fruit flies are not attracted to these fly lights, phorid flies can be.
