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

[hammerhead]

I bet it's a phorid flies. Do those little buggers run around fast more than fly? I had that problem too with my crickets and dubias. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=phorid+fly

 

[hartungs]

I think you may have hit it on the head! They are very fast and it seems they would rather run than fly. So, now that I know what they are, and since you had them too, what did you do to get rid of them?

 

[hammerhead]

I have an extra bin for easy cleaning.I just made a new set up an transferred them into a clean one. Everything must be taken out, cleaned (I use hot water & soap). I'm not sure where they lay their eggs, but if you can replace all the egg crates, that would be a plus. I would try to do this outside if you can, or some may just fly out and find the food source again when you're done. I also made a simple fly trap and put it near the bin. When I finish the instructions how to make it, I'll send it to you. David
P.S. If anyone who PM'ed me for the instructions last month, sorry but I lost all my e-mails for some reason, so if you PM me again I'll send them out.

 

[hartungs]

Thanks David. That was me who PM'd you about the trap. I look forward to reading about it.

 

[hammerhead]

Yeah, somehow all my emails ( over 700 I never deleted) got wiped out. I rcvd about 6 emails from members about this. I'm taking my son to the Doctor now, I'll try to post it this evening.
Got to fight traffic into Boston now, but I can't complain as my wife does it every day.

 

[hammerhead]

Items you will need:
1. Jar (large peanut butter, mayo, 2 lt. bottle cut in half, etc.)
2. Tape (paper masking tape I use)
3. Paper (a standard piece of Paper)
4. Bait ( For fruit flies (they have red eyes) red wine vinegar works the best, and bananas. For the other pesky flies like the phorid flies (those are the tiny buggers that run around more than fly) you need to either use whats attracting them to the bin, or try other fruits. Fruits work better than veggies as they decompose quicker and that's what these little pests eat is decomposing matter.
This trap is a paper cone you make with the pointy end inserted in the jar about an inch from the bottom. Don't forget to put the bait in first, and be careful not to touch the cone with the bait or it won't work as well. The hole on the pointy end of the cone should be no more than the size of a pencil eraser(1/8 inch). What happens is these pests will smell the bait and eventually and cautiously walk down the inside of the cone and into the trap.Since these flies have a brain the size of an atom, once they are in they automatically try to escape by flying up to the top where there is no exit.Their brain is the size of an atom so they can never find the little hole they came in. It's best to place this above the bin and stay away, as they do spook easily. The trickiest part of making this trap is fitting the cone so the pointy part is an inch from the bottom and the wider top part fits around the lip of the jar. It's easiest to make a approximate size and put a piece of tape at the pointy end with the small hole, then you can slide the wide part to fit the lid. When you have the cone made it's important to tape every seam and tape all around the jar lip. I cut the cone about a 1/2 inch above the lip and fold it over and place strips of tape all around. If you leave a hole at the top they will find it. I hope this makes sense. David

 

[hammerhead]

I ran out of space for the last post. After you make the first one, the others only take a couple of minutes. I would recommend cleaning your bins (outside if possible) to remove the ones in there. The new arrivals will go for the trap first (we hope). I make a new trap every week or less. If you want to use the jar again, open it outside, wash it out and start again. If the flies make you angry microwave them, wash and reuse jar. :evil:

 

[LiVZ]

I used to have exactly the same problem with the flies (I think mine were a species of fungus gnats.) It got to a point where they were infesting my entire house.
Here's what I did to completely remove them: (Sorry it's long—I just want to be as specific as possible.) Some of the stuff might seem kind of ridiculous and tedious, but I tried cleaning the bin like I normally would several times, and the flies would always come back, since even a few fly/egg/larvae left can infect your entire colony. However, you might not want to do all of this if your colony is small. If this is the case, just clean it very well along with fly-proofing the bin, and you should be fine.

Preparation:
1. Get a decent size bin that will allow you to temporarily store the entire roach colony in. This is done to ensure the fly population is completely eradicated in your house and the roach container before moving them back in. (I used a separate container since I could see lots of larvae and eggs around the roach container sides and lid of my main container.)
2. Make sure this container has an air tight lid. I used a large cardboard box (with a trash bag lining inside so they can’t crawl up) and used a piece of cardboard as the lid and taped it to the container
3. Cut ventilation holes on the lid and tape/glue a fine screen over them. Make absolutely sure that the material you use will not allow the flies to pass through. I cut up nylon stockings for this.

Cleaning: (This might take a very long time depending on the colony size and how infected it is)
1. Take the roach bin outside along with the above bin and another small container that you’ll use to transport “clean” roaches to the temporary bin (I used a small trash can for this one.)
2. Keep the temporary bin somewhat far away from the roach bin and put several new egg crates in there (the amount depending on your colony size).
3. Open the roach container and wait for a few hours to let the majority of the flies leave.
4. Start cleaning the roach bin. First shake off all of the roaches from the egg crates into the same bin and throw the used egg crates away. Don’t shake it into the small container as you might drop some larvae.
5. Take the roaches out by a small handful at a time and carefully inspect them for flies/larvae. Put them in the small cleaning bin.
6. When the cleaning bin gets full on the bottom, carefully inspect the roaches for flies and then once it’s clean dump them into the temporary bin.
7. Repeat until done and then wash the original roach container thoroughly.

Wait: (Now you should have the temporary container full of your colony and whatever food they might need.)
1. Store the temporary bin in a closed off location of the house where the flies won’t be able to get at too easily. Keep in there for 1-2 weeks, which should be enough time for eggs/larvae to grow the point you can see them in Phase 2 cleaning (below), but not enough time to mature into adult flies. Be very careful when feeding/watering the roaches, to not let any flies in!
2. Now is the time to completely get rid of the flies in your house using hammerhead’s method (see above.) I also found that sticky fly ribbon (flypaper) hung over a cup of apple cider vinegar works very well.
3. Make the permanent roach bin fly-proof: I had to glue strips of nylon stockings over the larger gapped ventilation screen since I saw flies coming in and out of here. Also, make sure the flies cannot get into the bin through any small cracks between the lid and the container.

Phase 2 of Cleaning (almost done!): I would really recommend doing this part well, since there probably is going to be a few leftover flies/larvae in the temporary bin. (It takes only a few to infest again!)
1. Basically do the same thing as the first cleaning part, but this time, transfer the roaches into the permanent bin. I would suggest doing this inside, in the room where you had the temporary bin quarantined, since there should be fewer flies in the house now.

This process seems to have worked for me, and hopefully it will help you or anyone else who is struggling with this problem! It’s a lot of work, but well worth it in the end. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

P.S. If the roach colony is starting to smell, or you need more air circulation in the bin, I have found a way to solve this—just PM me

 

[hammerhead]

Once we have eliminated them this seems like a good prevention. They say the answer is chiffon. http://www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/flies.html#start