Combating The Fruit Flies!

[SouthernStyle]

I'm sure there is probably one or more post about these pesky little insects throughout here, So I thought I would ask the Question....How do you get rid of these little Pests?!??

I've tried everything from Fly Paper to the small triangular sticky traps to removing the bedding in all my T's Cages, replacing it with new stuff and still no luck....I'm Almost tempted (and I'm sure the wife would just be livid) to take and let a bunch of baby Orb spiders Loose in my T's Room...

Anyone have any other Ideas on how to get rid of these things?!?

 

[fartkowski]

I have never actually seen any in my T tanks, but we have some animals that eat fruits and veggies so I have quite a bit these pests.What I do is put a cup of vinegar on a shelf away from the cages, and I hang one of those fly traps really close to it. You'll be surprised how many you catch this way.

The way I see it is they are more likely to be attracted to the vinegar then anything in the T cage.

Hope this helps a bit.

chris

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Carnivorous plants? http://www.cobraplant.com/

 

[SouthernStyle]

Carnivorous plants? http://www.cobraplant.com/

Tried 'em....The Venus Worked well for a while, then So did the Sundew...Still have them in there, and Not much luck...They get one or two files a week if that (so it's really not THAT bad) but it still annoys the hell outa me...

 

[shubi]

My tip is to mix vinegar, some juice and top it off with some washing-up liquid. the washliquid will break the tension of the water and they will drown...:evil:
This mix work very well for my free range colony of fruitfiles...^^

 

[Buckwheat]

That is a very good suggestion! I haven't heard of that one. The other is, simply let your substrates dry out and they will go away. Easy.

 

[SouthernStyle]

That is a very good suggestion! I haven't heard of that one. The other is, simply let your substrates dry out and they will go away. Easy.

Agreed~ but then you run the chance of having a T that is from a more humid region in the world that needs that humidity and can't get it....

 

[Buckwheat]

I don't want to hi-jack this thread. RH values are nothing more than urban legend. They can all be kept dry other than T. blondi and H. gigas. You might try contacting Stan Schultz and converse with him about such things. He will tell you the same thing. Try touching base with him here as: Pikaia. I'm sure you'd find that worth while. Good luck!

 

[Martin H.]

I bet the flies in your tank are not fruit flies (Drosophila) but "fungus gnats" (Sciaridae)

 

[SouthernStyle]

I bet the flies in your tank are not fruit flies (Drosophila) but "fungus gnats" (Sciaridae)

Honestly I dont know~ The Sugar Gliders that we keep seem to produce a lot of these little things...If they're Fungus Flies Then Im going to just be pissed

 

[Martin H.]

Honestly I dont know~ The Sugar Gliders that we keep seem to produce a lot of these little things...If they're Fungus Flies Then Im going to just be pissed

in a tarantula tank there should be nothing which attracts fruit flies, but in a Sugar Glider tank, I would expect fruit flies (attracted by the food of the Sugar Gliders) and not fungus gnats.

 

[SouthernStyle]

in a tarantula tank there should be nothing which attracts fruit flies, but in a Sugar Glider tank, I would expect fruit flies (attracted by the food of the Sugar Gliders) and not fungus gnats.

Then how would one go about combating the fungus gnats

 

[clearlysaid]

My tip is to mix vinegar, some juice and top it off with some washing-up liquid. the washliquid will break the tension of the water and they will drown...:evil:
This mix work very well for my free range colony of fruitfiles...^^

Nate- Something like what Shubi said works for me. What I use, though, is apple cider vinegar, a little sugar, water and dish soap. I catch a lot of fungus gnats this way.

I actually don't have a problem with them in my spider's enclosures but in my many, many house plants. I'm just glad the little buggers don't notice my spider's dirt.

 

[SouthernStyle]

Nate- Something like what Shubi said works for me. What I use, though, is apple cider vinegar, a little sugar, water and dish soap. I catch a lot of fungus gnats this way.

I actually don't have a problem with them in my spider's enclosures but in my many, many house plants. I'm just glad the little buggers don't notice my spider's dirt.

That Seemed to work pretty well~ I think I'll keep that Idea and run with it for a while

 

[exoslimjim]

they sell indoor bug lights now... i just bought one yesterday and it works very well... i originally bought it for misquitos but it got a bunch of other flyers

 

[willyomt]

Time to add one more possibility to the mix. Perhaps what you are seeing are Phorid flies. Below is an answer to a similar question as written by Michael Jacobi on the BTS website:


"Phorid flies (aka hump-backed flies - and also coffin flies because they are found in mortuaries!) are fruit-fly-sized carrion (and other decaying organic matter) feeders that are especially attracted to the remains of uneaten insect prey. Hobbyists encounter them when they enter the terrarium to feed on dead insects (especially crickets). They reproduce quickly and leave behind maggots that are a bit larger than those of fruit flies. They are best prevented by removing uneaten food immediately, offering only prey that will be immediately consumed so prey doesn't die in the cage, and paying close attention to remove the bolus left behind after a meal. They have a preference for moist decaying organic matter (mostly animal, but also plant) and can also be minimized by avoiding damp stagnant conditions. Keep your feeder insect cages clean, removing dead insects daily. They become abundant first in cricket and roach cages and then opportunistically move toward arachnid terraria."

I hope this doesn't muck up the possible resolution to your problem. Good luck!

 

[Stan Schultz]

Time to add one more possibility to the mix. Perhaps what you are seeing are Phorid flies. Below is an answer to a similar question as written by Michael Jacobi on the BTS website:

"Phorid flies (aka hump-backed flies ...

Phorid flies are also famous (or notorious!) for infesting the giant tarantulas, e.g., T. blondi, T. apophysis, L. parahybana, the larger Pamphobeteus, etc. And, once you get phorids with these species you'll never get rid of them until you get rid of the tarantulas. Sorry for the bad news.

The phorid maggots hide in the crevasses between the plates in the tarantula's exoskeleton and move to the tarantula's mouth to share the meal when the tarantula eats.

Phorid flies are attracted to areas of high humidity (e.g., the toilet, especially when the lid is down), moist garbage (especially vegetable garbage), dead crickets, damp cages, and bright lights.

If you're unwilling to get rid of your giant tarantulas you should religiously remove all moist garbage and dead crickets, and keep the tarantula's cages scrupulously clean. Using the curly fly strips that hang from the ceiling will help a little if you hang them near something that attracts the flies, but isn't a cure be any means.

I found that I could bait for them with a little moist garbage in the bottom of a plastic grocery bag held upright in a small container like a small plastic bucket or cardboard box. Every morning, immediately after getting up, I would quietly sneak into the kitchen and quickly close the top of the bag and tie it off, trapping the evening's accumulation of flies. I'd then deposit them in a garbage can in the garage where they'd either freeze in winter or bake in summer. It wasn't all that successful, but it felt good to commit mass insecticide! (Die buggers, die!)

If these are really fungus gnats, you can get rid of them by keeping the substrate in your tarantulas' cages bone dry. If you have humidity concerns, use larger water dishes (or use two dishes per cage) and cover the cage with plastic food wrap to prevent the extra water vapor from wafting away into the room air.

If these are really fruit flies, they need ripe fruit or vegetable garbage to reproduce on. Move the garbage can outdoors or into the garage and look throughout your home for any vagrant ripe fruit.

I once had a friend who was plagued with fruit flies in December. He finally asked me to help him figure out where they were coming from. We went through his entire house and could find nothing. However, I noticed a greater concentration of them in the utility/mud room. A little searching revealed an entrance to the crawl space under the house, and (Bingo!) a 50 pound bag of rotting apples. His house mate had purchased them at a good price from a farmer in October and stored them under the house where it was relatively cool, then promptly forgot about them!