**HELP** Very Very Fast Fly (Gnat/Fruit Type) In Dubia Bin

[hartungs]

So here is my problem... I have noticed recently that whenever I go into the roach bin I see these little tiny gnat like flies zooming around. These do not seem to be your normal fruit fiies. These things are FAST! You try to smoosh them, but they just fly or run away.

I cleaned the bin out a couple of weeks ago and thought that I removed them all. I even left it outside for a couple of hours to let them fly off. But, when I took out the lids that I put the water crystals on today, I noticed these little egg like things along with tiny white larvae moving around on the lids. Now I am PISSED because these little flies are showing up at times in the house. My wife isn't very happy about this either...and that is not good for me.

So...has anyone else had this problem? I would like to know what you have done to get rid of these little pests. I made a "trap" out of a plastic bottle, with the lid turned upside down and fruit in the bottom, in an attempt to catch them and placed that in the bin. BUT...I don't think that will be enough.

ANY SUGGETIONS would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks....

 

[Litakat]

You know I wondered about this myself. I haven't had a full on fly thing like you, but I was checking the dish I had my water crystals in, and noticed a few little larvae looking things. I was fairly certain all the dubia came out as tiny roaches as I had seen them running around, so I threw out the dish (it was just an old tupperware top anyway), and haven't noticed any new problems yet. I did also have fruit in mine though. So maybe that's the connection. Apple slices specifically

 

[invictusrules]

I get the little monsters in my Dubia, too, even though the bins are covered.
I've gotten rid of them by taking the bin outside a few times a day and opening up the lid to "free" the flies. After a few days, the breeding cycle is broken. Unfortunately, the bananas I buy seem to come pre-flyed, so I still get infestations.

 

[ajkry2]

does anybody know if these little flys contaminate the colony?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

They should not contaminate but you will have to change out the egg creates and take the fruit out after a day or two! Good luck...

 

[hartungs]

Well I know that these flies are not fruit flies. They are SOOOOO much faster and I usually don't put fruit in there. It just seems like they magically showed up one day. The only other thing that I can think of is that there was too much moisture in the bin. I noticed that the dubia have been dragging the water crystals out of the lid and the "poo" has been staying wet. I just cleaned it out AGAIN and let the flies out. I guess I will try reducing the amount of water crystals to limit the wet "poo" and breeding grounds for the flies.

Again, any other suggestions or comments are very appreciated....

Thanks.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Do you have heating tape or pads under the water lids?

 

[hartungs]

There isn't any heat source under the water crystal lids. I do have a human heating pad under it, but I turned it off last month to slow down the breeding process. Grrrrr.......

 

[hartungs]

BUMP...... Anyone.....?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Did you have them when you had the heat on them?

 

[clear]

Start removing all the dead dubia you see. The flies go for the dead dubia.

 

[crazyseany]

could they be something that hatches from the chow?... Kinda in the same theory as flour bugs....?

 

[clear]

Sure if bugs got into the chow they could be hatching out of it. If you think they are hatching from the chow throw it in the freezer for the day to kill the eggs.

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

Start removing all the dead dubia you see. The flies go for the dead dubia.

I'm w/ Chris on this one.

-Ian
http://www.theroachranch.com

 

[Germ]

I haven't had this problem. I use potatoes cut in half and Carrots for moisture for mine. My Discoids eat the carrots completely and clean the potatoes out completely, leaving only the skins. I use a CHE with a foil reflector for heat on a dimmer switch, so I can adjust the heat. I don't worry about my humidity anymore as since I moved to the Island the outside RH is 60-70% and the moisture from the spuds keeps it up in the container, and I get no rot or mold.

When I was living inland and the humidity was lower I used the following method for to keep the humidity up. I used a shallow plastic Cat dish with the sides roughed up, put paper towel in the bottom. I then poked a number of holes in the lid of an old fish food container, filled the container with water, put the lid on, placed the cat dish and paper towel upside down on top of the full fish food container. Then invert the whole combination and placed it in the colony enclosure. Changed the paper towel when I'd refill the water container every week or 2, when necessary. Had no problems with mold.

I have had no problems with larvae or flies using these methods.

Germain