Don’t you just hate it when you see gnats flying around in your house?
Gnats lurking in your kitchen or bathroom are usually signs of some organic material rotting or a moist area that needs some cleaning.
You can get rid of gnats by using different traps, including sticky traps, vinegar traps, and scented candle traps. If you have an insect spray handy, using one to kill gnats is also easy. However, if you found a gnat infestation in some hard-to-reach places, you might want to consider acquiring professional pest control services.
What Are Gnats?
Gnats are small two-winged flies that resemble a mosquito.
Some species bite while others won’t, but all types typically form large swarms called clouds.
Since the word “gnat” is a descriptive noun rather than a specific technical term, science has not formulated a consensus on what constitutes a gnat.
Many entomologists say that only non-biting species are gnats.
There are fruit flies, drain flies, gnat bugs, and moth flies. More specific species include eye gnats, black fungus gnats, phorid flies, and gall gnats.
Non-biting gnats thrive near moisture, and large populations usually emerge during the summer.
Adult gnats may live between eight days and two months, depending on the quality and favorability of a selected habitat.
When adult gnats mate, they mate in a swarm and let their eggs fall into the water.
Female gnats can lay up to 1,000 eggs during their entire adult life.
What Causes Gnats To Be In Your House?
Since moisture attracts gnats, you may find them lurking in indoor plants or flying around stacks of rotting fruit.
Gnats also thrive in wet sinks, idle drain pipes, spilled food, and kitchen trash.
These areas in your house create stimulating environments that provide stable breeding grounds and constant food sources for gnats.
In some cases, gnats can emerge from eggs laid on items that you just brought home.
What Are Gnats a Sign Of?
If you have gnats at home, it is a clear indication that something in your house is conducive to their propagation.
You may have rotten produce or a damp area that needs washing, flushing, or drying out.
Otherwise, you may have brought something indoors that already carries some gnat eggs.
Items that can nurture gnat eggs include damp soil in potted plants and wet vegetables from the farmer’s market.
Different Ways on How To Get Rid of Gnats
You will find several methods that are highly effective in getting rid of gnats from your indoor spaces.
The following techniques require items that you probably already have at home.
Vinegar Trap
To make a vinegar trap, you will need two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of sugar, and several drops of dish soap.
Mix the ingredients in a small bowl filled with water to assemble the trap.
The sugary mixture attracts gnats, but the sticky consistency of the dish soap is effective for trapping them.
Be sure to position your vinegar trap where you’ve seen the most gnats.
Fly Trap or Paper
Since you probably already have occasional visits from different flying insects, you might have stocked your household supplies with some fly paper.
You will find flypaper in several variations: ribbon-type for hanging or sheet-type for mounting on window panes and countertops.
These poison-treated strips of adhesive paper should be enough to trap all kinds of flying insects.
Once the gnats land on the sticky surface, they won’t get a chance to fly away.
Fruit-Scented Candle Trap
Lighting a candle is a timeless way to get rid of flying insects.
If you have fruit-scented candles at home, they offer an excellent option for luring and trapping gnats.
You will need a pan at least an inch deep to make the candle trap. Set the candle in the middle of the pan filled with water and light it up.
While the flame should be enough to lure gnats to their death, the fruity scent attracts gnats better.
They’ll either burn in the flame or fall into the pan below.
Caution: Never leave a room with a lit candle as it may cause a fire.
Diluted Bleach Solution
If you don’t want the smell of vinegar or wine inside your bathroom, you can get rid of gnats by flushing the drains with some diluted bleach.
Whenever you leave your house for several days, your bathroom dries out, leaving only the drains and pipes wet.
Since bathroom drains have water seal traps that invite gnats to lay their eggs, you might come home to gnat-infested fixtures.
Pouring diluted bleach down your sinks drains your plumbing and flushes the gnats into the sewers.
If there are just too many gnats, flush them out with generous amounts of water before cleansing the area with diluted bleach.
Chemical Spray
Sometimes, simple home remedies may not be enough to help you get rid of gnats.
In such cases, you might want to use store-bought insecticide sprays.
Caution: Chemical sprays contain substances that are not only effective against gnats but also harmful to human health.
Other Alternatives
While the methods presented earlier should be enough to rid your household of gnats, you can also take advantage of other alternatives.
Wine Trap
We’re not saying that you should use an expensive bottle from your wine collection to kill gnats.
We’re just asking you to recycle expired or almost expired wine to create a concoction similar to the vinegar trap.
All you have to do is add several drops of dish soap and set the mixture where you found the gnats.
You should see some dead gnats in the container the next time you check it.
Rotten Fruit Lure
When creating a particular trap is not enough to attract gnats to their death, you might want to lure them better with some rotten fruit.
While it could be the reason for the infestation, it can also work as a trap as long as you have the correct setup.
Get a large bowl and add a few pieces of overripe or rotten fruit. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke some holes with a toothpick.
Gnats may find their way into the overripe fruit, but there is a significant chance that they won’t find their way out.
Bug Zapper
You can also get a bug zapper and let it do its work in an area with a gnat infestation. Bug zappers are pretty cheap, and they don’t use too much electricity.
Professional Exterminator
If all else fails and the gnats just don’t seem to leave, you should consider getting help from pest control professionals.
Conclusion
More often than not, all you have to do to get rid of gnats is keep a clean environment.
Avoid leaving your garbage can unsealed, and practice consuming your fresh produce before they start attracting gnats.
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