Fruit Fly Or Fungus Gnat

They're both tiny. They both fly around your house. And, they both have a chance of being accidentally sucked into your windpipe.

But, besides sharing these irritating similarities, these two household pests are actually quite different.

Fungus Gnats

Do you love plants and flowers? If you do, these pests will love you for it. Fungus gnats are most often brought into a home as eggs inside plant soil.

These eggs give birth to larvae and begin to eat, grow, and eventually develop into a pupa and hatch to become the tiny black flies that drive us crazy.

The more plants you have in your home, the more fungus gnats you'll have crawling on your bathroom mirror, television set, and face. Your fungus gnat population is also directly connected to moisture. The wetter your soil, the more flies you'll produce.

⭐ An ounce of prevention

Here are a ton of suggestions out there for fungus gnat control, and most of them don't work. Some of them are even dangerous. Fungus gnats need wet soil. If you're having an issue, allow the soil to dry between waterings, and use a vacuum to suck up winged gnats.

Fruit Flies

Do you eat fruit? If you do, these pests will love you for it. Fruit flies usually lay their eggs on fruit before those items get into your home.

When your fruit ripens, the eggs give birth to tiny larvae and develop into a pupa, and then hatch into those little orangish flies that swarm your face.

If you enjoy beverages with sugar in them, you'll give those fruit flies even more reason to get all up in your grill.

⭐ An ounce of prevention

To keep fruit flies from being produced in the first place, make sure you put fruit items in the fridge instead of on the counter.

If you have a swarm of fruit flies that have already taken root in your home, find the rotting, sugary items they are breeding in and remove them.

Then, fill a bowl with 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 drops of liquid dish soap, and cover it with cling wrap. Make sure it is nice and tight, and poke a dozen holes in it with a toothpick.

Place two or three of these around your home and you'll get that infestation under control.

How to Get Rid of Gnats & Fruit Flies

Fruit Flies

⭐ Throw away any overripe fruit you may have on counters or in fruit baskets. Be sure to check near the floorboards to make sure that no fruit has accidentally fallen and found a home under your cabinets.

⭐ Store your fresh fruit in the refrigerator. This will help deter fruit flies from getting to your fruit when it begins to over-ripen.

Gnats

⭐ Allow the soil in your plants to completely dry before watering them again. This will decrease the survival rate of the larval stages of gnats.

⭐ Place a 1-inch layer of sand on the top of the soil of your plants. This will deter gnats from digging into the soil where they breed and allow you to still water your plants.

⭐ Pour some apple cider vinegar into an empty jar, and seal the top with some plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is securely fixed on the jar. Use a fork or toothpick to create several small holes in the plastic wrap. The smell of the vinegar will attract the gnats, causing them to fly into the jar. Once inside, the gnats will be trapped.

Prevent Fruit Flies & Gnats Infestations

If you continue to have trouble with either of these pests, contact American Pest for effective fly control in Germantown, Bethesda, and all of Montgomery County and Maryland, NOVA, and Washington D.C.

A professional technician can locate and eliminate the breeding sites that are allowing these pests to flourish. They can also educate you on how to reduce these and other pests in your home with natural, modern pest management methods.