Bug Identification Help, Please

SeñorAmor

What exactly are these bugs? They look like fruit flies, but they seem to only be interested in the bread on my counter (in a sealed bag; ignoring any other food that may be out, including fruit) and also seem to congregate in my bathrooms.

They've been persistent in my new house for about a month now. I've cleaned the shit out of my counters and cupboards and they just don't go away. They're about the size of half a grain of rice and typically reddish in color (the white bugs are red, just illuminated by lights in my bathroom where I took the picture).

Thanks in advance.

Fiendishrabbit

This should really be in the official bug identification thread (which at this very moment is right at the first page of threads), but it looks like some kind of fermentation fly (that it likes your bathroom also points to this). Not all fruit fly relatives are that attracted to fruit.

My suggestion if you want to get rid of it. Clean your drains, and use the strong stuff. You need something which murderizes organic material. Most likely you have some sort of fermenting fungus in your drains that it (and its larvae) absolutely loves.

P.S: Clean your drains every few days for two weeks and the problem should go away unless you have something around that's fermenting in a little corner. A second tip is to take a small glass of vinegar, mix in honey and a few drops of dishwashing liquid, mix it around and leave it on a counter (the soap will ensure that they'll drown). That will reduce the adult fly population and you should see dozens of flies in the glass the next morning. If the vinegar/honey mix doesn't attract them, then my theory is wrong.

SeñorAmor

Apologies, I was unaware of a bug ID thread. I'll go post there, too.

@ceres Can you lock this, please and thanks?

ceres

I sure can. Hey @Fiendishrabbit no metamodding But it is a pretty cool thread though.