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Gnats are attracted to salt and moisture, but more specifically to produce, fresh flowers, houseplants, spilled food, and overflowing garbage cans. You may have unknowingly brought home a plant from a garden center that was infested with gnats—or brought freshly picked produce infested with gnats indoors. Plug-in traps, like the Zevo Flying Insect Trap, can be extremely effective. Bug zappers typically attract flying insects with a UV light, then trap and collect the small bugs. Most modern zappers are safe for indoor use, so you can plug one in adjacent to your gnat problem.
Drain Gnats
Let’s look at some of the best gnat control methods you can use. You probably need to use a combination of ways if you want to say goodbye to these bugs for good. How do you know that fungus gnats are affecting your houseplants? If your plants at home are generally healthy and there are only a few flies, it can be challenging to spot sight of houseplant gnats. Of course, seeing minuscule mosquito-like flies is a sign of a gnat problem. Finally, regularly clean up decaying organic matter, such as fallen leaves or fruits, to minimize gnat breeding grounds, according to Orkin.
Clean up Sources of Organic Material
Once you get rid of the breeding source, implement a gnat spray or pyrethrin treatment to kill off the lingering adult Sphaerocerid flies. Adult phorid flies are generally most active during the warmer months of the year. Like many other types of gnats, they feed on and breed in moist decaying organic matter found around the home. Also known as eye flies and grass flies, eye gnats are small insects that are drawn to the fluids secreted by the nose, ears, and eyes, of both humans and animals. As such, you’ll find them swarmed near these areas on animal and human remains. These tiny pests are known to transmit eye conditions and diseases such as pink eye.
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With proper methods of control, they may eventually go away as the year progresses. Gnats have a short life cycle and will often disappear when the cold months start. Gnats are one of the few pests that can also be treated quickly by using home remedies. Home remedies for getting rid of gnats can be used for both indoor and outdoor infestations, as well as alongside other gnat treatment options. "Fungus gnats can be found in or outdoors and the larvae will drain the nutrients of a plant," Price explains.
To tackle an infestation of gnats, it is imperative that you discover the specific type of gnats that you are dealing with. The following list of “types of gnats” outlines the most common varieties that you will find in and around the home. If the flies won’t leave you alone, this clever trick using a bar of soap can put a stop to them.
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Mosquitoes are notorious for their blood-sucking proboscis and their bite. Midges are entirely harmless, have no sucking mouthparts, and are easily identified by their fluffy antennae. Fruit flies are so small they can pass through ordinary screening used to keep other flies away. They are common in houses, especially kitchens, restaurants, and other food-handling sites, attracted to ripening or fermenting fruit, other fly droppings, and uncooked food. Drain flies are tiny gnat look-alikes, sometimes called moth flies, because they resemble small, powdery moth. Drain flies are about 1/8 inch (4 mm) long with long antennae and light tan to gray coloring.
The antifungal and sterilizing effect of hydrogen peroxide helps to sterilize potting soil and kill off gnat larvae in the soil. As soon as you spot tiny gnats flying around your plants, you need to act quickly. While some pesticides can quickly kill off gnats, you probably don’t want potentially dangerous chemicals in your home. Another option that can work for all types of gnats is sticky paper or cards. These cards are yellow—a color that gnats are attracted to— and have adhesive on their faces.
How to Get Rid of Gnats for Good, According to an Entomologist - TODAY
How to Get Rid of Gnats for Good, According to an Entomologist.
Posted: Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Skip Watering Your Plants.
"This technique of bottom-watering ensures your plants get the water they need while avoiding the environment that gnats love." Traps like this Zevo Flying Insect Trap ($19.97, Walmart), use safe amounts of blue and UV light to attract gnats, and mosquitoes to trap them in. The best thing is they contain no chemical insecticides, odor and are more user-friendly.
After the eggs hatch into larvae, they feed, become pupae, then grow into full-grown adults. You may only notice their presence when they start flying around. Fruits, vegetables and flowers growing in your garden can also appeal to gnats. Harvesting produce regularly and clearing away overripe produce and organic waste can help keep the natural gnat population low.
The buffalo gnat, also called the black fly or turkey gnat, has a humpbacked appearance, can be green, tan, or gray, and grows to approximately 1/8 of an inch long. You’ll generally find buffalo gnats in late spring and early summer near lakes and streams. When you discover that you have a gnat infestation in your house, it’s important that you act quickly to find and fix the problem before it can get any worse. In order to know how to get rid of gnats, you must be able to identify what type of gnats have set up shop in your home.
Gnats may also live in sink drains where food residue can collect. Dirty kitchen sink drains can provide food, water, shelter and breeding sites to many fly species. If you’re noticing gnats with fuzzy complexions and grayish colors, you probably have a drain fly infestation.
You can employ several natural ways to eliminate gnats from your house plants. Since gnats reproduce quickly, you may need to try a few methods to get rid of them all. Natural methods are the best first line of defense, so try these before turning to chemical solutions.
Then we’ll provide some strategies for exterminating them and preventing them from returning. We’ll also give our recommendations for the top pest control companies in case DIY methods prove insufficient. The term gnats refers to small flying insects that may or may not bite.
Place the lit candle in a dish of soapy water to attract the gnats and turn out the overhead light. They may burn up in the flame or drop into the water and drown. Although this method works best at night, never leave a burning candle unattended, especially while you sleep.
No, you don’t need to kill your plants to keep gnats out of your home. If the soil is still relatively damp, you might want to allow more time before adding more moisture into that pot, says Fredricks. If you've noticed a swarm of gnats lingering around your sink drains, you may have drain flies. Carefully dilute one-half cup of bleach with about one gallon of water and pour it down the affected drain. Some types of moisture-seeking gnats tend to congregate around sink or tub drains. To combat these drain flies, mix ½ cup bleach into a gallon of water and slowly pour the mixture into the drain.
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