To wonder where these tiny flies have come from

[Jadefeather7]

Have suddenly got tiny flies in my house. Don’t have any plants and don’t keep any fruit outside the fridge. Just had some new neighbours move in with a dog at the same time... could it be that? Is it my sink? I did have a small itchy bump on my hand this morning when I woke up. Put out a glass of vinegar with fairy liquid and give or six of them had gathered on the rim but when I went to squish them they all flew off!

I've suddenly noticed lots of tiny flies in my house, and out in pubs too! Are you sure it's just your house? I wondered if it was a weather/environment thing. I'm hoping they're not just all following me because I smell...

@potatotopia Ah really! I haven’t noticed elsewhere.

Oh they are pains in the arse. We have them too. Had them last summer too and they died out with summer. No spillages, rotting food, not from plants. They're slowly reducing in number now actually.

Where I stay we had a few weeks where they were terrible and I went to get fly spray and all the shops in my town had sold out because the problem was so bad! I got a plastic box put some oranges cut up in it and then put vinegar in it, put clingfilm across the top and put some smallish holes in it, took a few days but got rid of them quite well.

Any flowers in the house, I sometimes have tiny flies from cut flowers from the garden.

They arrived 2 days ago here, even in car! If fact the only creature they are not pestering is the dog because he's treated for flea and worms and ticks!

We had this problem and we got rid by having a tin of cider with a little bit left in, clingfilm over the top, poke a few small hole in the clingfilm. The flies go in for the sweetness of the cider but cannot get out. A couple of days we were fly free.

Ahhh interesting that a few of you also have them. I hope they will die out soon and not lay eggs and start multiplying!

We had a problem with flies a couple of years ago. I figured they were fruit flies as they had red eyes, I got to stressed with them.

I tried everything. I cleaned everything down, made cider vinegar traps, put up loads of fly papers, but I was on a losing battle. I called extermination companies and no body would help. I eventually spoke to one guy who said I WILL have missed something. There will be some rotting food somewhere that I will have forgotten about.

Eventually found the source. A bag of old potatoes I put under the stairs covered in hundreds of them! Couldn't even remember the last time I put some there. Instantly resolved and got my sanity back!

Had loads of the buggers here. I am pretty certain mine came home in a pack of peaches from Lidl - had to fridge all the fruit, bins out, nothing at all left on the worktops and now they've gone. Horrible little things they were.

I made a trap with coke bottle with bit coke in bottom. Worked wonders and keeps them at bay. Iv moved all fruit to fridge except bananas which the bloody flies love. Empty food bin twice a day.

Bananas? Wash them as soon as you get them in the house.

Fruit flies. The bane of my life at the moment

There are loads here at the moment, I thought it was just our house but was at the garden centre 3 miles away today and the cafe was full of them too so I think it is to do with harvesting here (we are rural) as it has coincided with a lot of farm activity.

Drosophila melanogaster. Otherwise known as fruit flies. We've got them too. Electric bug zapper seems to be working fairly well at the moment.

A friend gave me a plant. Weeks later it was covered with flies. Had to chuck it out. It must have had fly eggs on it that hatched. It came from M&S too!

Yup, the fruit flies tend to peak a few weeks after the corn flies - which are worse, as they’re even smaller and crawl inside picture frames and laptop screens, as well all over your skin and clothes! We get them after the barley harvest, then the fruit flies come along when the plums are ripening. Ain’t nature grand...and that’s not to mention the sodding midges who last all summer, and the wasps who appear after the fruit flies....!

If you're certain there isn't old fruit or veg somewhere you've overlooked then I'd suggest pouring some bleach down the kitchen sink drain. A friend of mine was going nuts because of them and someone told her to do this. It worked and when we got them in the kitchen this summer we did the same and they were gone pretty much straight away. I wouldn't have thought of the kitchen sink but maybe because of food particles going down?

Any potatoes lingering in a cupboard?

We've got this too! They've been driving me mad; we cleaned out everything and checked for leftover food..turns out I left a bin bag in the wrong place and they were all over it...

Are they red or black?

Jadefeather7 Are they drain flies? Put a drop of bleach down the plug holes at night and put the plugs in.

@PolPotNoodle there seems to be a reddish brownish tinge when I squish them!