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Thousands of tiny flies.
Sir Red of the Manti
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So at the moment there are thousands of fruitfly sized bugs flying in from outside my room gathering on my computer screen/bed. I'd shut my window and take care of the ones in here, but it is too muggy and hot to do that. I'm thinking of putting a pantyhose liner over my window fans, but I'd like to know if there are better solutions to this problem. I am not opposed to any sort of insect genocide at this point, but I'd rather not bugbomb the room unless absolutely necessary.
Sir Red of the Manti on
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You can also build something like this,
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fly-Trap/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fruit-Fly-Trap_1/
If the fan is on, I can't imagine the flys getting through its grate.
You could also put a light outside which will surely draw bugs to it.
I don't know how well this works in the dark
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-keep-pesky-flies-away-from-your-BBQ/
put one in a ziploc bag, set down, wait like 2 hours, zip closed, bam, 95% of the buggers
If you do this, I'd suggest getting one of those ones with the little plastic slidey-bit to give you a perfect seal every time. Will keep 'em from escaping while you're disposing of them.
Wine doesn't work so well, since most don't have enough sugar to attract the flies. Mead can also work.
Face Twit Rav Gram
..The fruit fly traps you're about to make. The picture in the link should be just about all the instructions you need. Fill glass with fruit, fruit juice, wine, beer, whatever, as long as it's sticky and sweet. We've had problems with these things coming up from our basement (our sink pipes were leaking into the crawlspace, along with all the food bits we washed down) and these work great. We put malt vinegar in ours, and they go to it like a magnet.
You can alternately try this style with plastic wrap over the top. Use a toothpick to poke holes in it, and just make sure they're big enough for the flies to get in. Either style you use, they're way too dumb to get out again.
Park these things near sinks, trash cans, and anywhere else you see them congregating. If you use the paper style, make sure you tape around the funnel so they cant find a crack to get out. If you use the saran style, you can swirl the liquid around once in a while to drown the li'l fuckers. If you opt for catch & release, make sure you release FAR away from your home.
In the end, the only solution was... to wait. I tried absolutely everything.
2) Fill with water
3) Add vinegar (preferrably something sugary, like a fruit-based vinegar)
4) Add dish soap (to disrupt surface tension)
5) Let sit out and make preparations to clean out a mass grave the next day
I tried this when I had a bug problem, and it never really worked. We caught maybe 5-10 in 24 hours, while hundreds flew care-free around all of our light fixtures.
The paper cone method is the best.
Steps
1- Eliminate Food Sources.
2- Build traps.
3- Dispose of traps.
4- Wipe out the stragglers.
Steam | Live
I watched it with my own eyes, they're extremely tenacious. And they're definitely coming from outside, as they're latching on to the outside of my window screen when they aren't climbing in.
I'll attempt some of the traps, but these are not fruit flies so I don't know how effective they'll be. These things seemed to be attracted to light far more than anything else. As well, I am positive that there is nothing in my room that could be attracting the things, as it was completely and thoroughly cleaned the night before these things decided to break in. As in, completely emptied the room, vacuumed the heck out of it, and cleaned all furniture meticulously before putting it back in, so I'm absolutely sure there's no food anywhere that's attracting these things. I'll update on how the fight goes when they appear again.
It's usually food or beverage containers that haven't been washed out.
But the second you leave a cup that you drank juice out of lying around.. there's a whole lot of small insect reproduction going on.
Do not be fooled, they are most likely coming from inside.
I have two adorable Guinea Pigs, and if you're a day or two late changing the shavings in their cage you end up with the invasion force.
Do what Chanus said and find what is attracting them (inside or out) and throw it in a tub of bleach* for sterilization.
*Please don't actually fill your tub with bleach.