How do gnats reproduce

These flies are also commonly found developing in the cracks of kitchen equipment and have even been known to infest mausoleums and feed on human corpses. Frequently found in bakeries, their sources of foods are damp, decaying flour that accumulates in and under equipment, plus cracks and gaps in floors and wall-floor junctions.

Phorid flies are particularly problematic in hospitals and other health care facilities. Phorid flies have a peculiar behavior of preferring to run rather than fly when disturbed. This behavior, coupled and their humpbacked appearance are two characteristics to help identify these flies. Fungus gnat development sites are usually associated with plants and moist soil where they feed on damp, organic material and live in piles of plant debris, compost piles and mulch around the house.

These flies feed on fungi as well as plant roots that are found in soil habitats. As expected, fungus gnats are problems in greenhouses and potted plants found inside homes.

Fungus gnats may fly inside homes and other buildings from their outside development sites, or be directly brought inside on an infested plant. Fungus gnats are attracted to lights. Call Residential Commercial. Fruit Fly Breeding Sites Fruit flies breed and develop in places where foods such as fruits and vegetables are located and also where organic debris is allowed to accumulate.

Resources Dig Deeper on Gnats. Gnats are probably one of the most annoying insects. I went back through my own search history and also found some other common questions people are asking about gnats to get you this list of 23 commonly asked questions and facts about gnats, drain flies, and fruit flies. Moisture, mostly. Gnats need moisture to lay their eggs, so if you have gnats you have a moisture buildup somewhere. Gnat larvae feed on plant roots, and that includes your house plants.

Gnats lay their eggs in moist food sources. Depending on the type of gnat, that means moist soil, the inside of a drain, or a piece of fruit. Your hair and scalp are definitely not appealing breeding sites for gnats. Gnats are drawn to moisture, and your nose, mouth, and eyes just happen to be moist places.

So, gnats tend to fly in there. Adult gnats live for 7 to ten days, laying up to eggs which will hatch in 4 to 6 days and the larvae will mature into adults in another 12 to 14 days. So, yes, gnats reproduce very quickly. Bleach kills pretty much anything. Gnats are mainly active during the day. More importantly, these maggots are tiny and harmless. Adult gnats live for about a week. They spend about two weeks as larvae before they become adults.

Moist soil, trash cans, and drains. Winged insects do get around! So, it is possible they are breeding somewhere else, but not likely. Reduce watering and allow the soil to dry. Fungus gnat larvae look like small white worms with a shiny black head.

These larvae feed on fungus and need moist conditions to survive. This will not be a quick solution, but over time will reduce the number of flies seen as the larvae dry out and die. Repotting with fresh soil can more quickly change the soil characteristics and eliminate the fungi growing on the overwatered soil. However, removing all the soil from around the roots can be disruptive and potentially harm the plant normally when repotting we keep much of the soil around the roots and just loosen the dirt around the edge.

Finally, discarding the plant will quickly eliminate the problem. Insecticides will not work and are not recommended for houseplant fungus gnat control. I just took a lot of pictures of the flies to share with you!

Once you know where they are coming from you can reduce how often you water that plant. I had not been checking soil moisture in my houseplants before watering and that plant has really wet soil. It will be weeks before the insects are really active outside, so in the meantime, as an insect lover I will stop being annoyed by the flies and learn to enjoy my little colony of fungus gnats. Original image: The most common place for larval fungus gnats is overwatered houseplants.

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