teeeeeny tinyyy bugs... fruit flies(?) in my pantry!!

[mafibisha]

We have a walk in pantry and I just discovered way too many teeny tiny fruit flies (?) in there! YUCK!! So y'll know everything so please tell me:

1) What are they? Are they miniature fruit flys?
2) Where did they come from in the middle of winter? Is it because its more spring like now with this warm front we're having?
3) How do I get rid of them? Exteminator or will they just die?
4) Do you think they got into any food? What should I throw out?

Ugh, it is always something.

TIA.

 

[Sadie22]

Look for their food source. Do you have apples or pears in there or a trash or food waste can that they are infesting?

 

[bpesch]

They might be mealy bugs. Not sure if that's the correct name but it's what we've always called them. I've also heard them called flour moths or pantry moths. They like grain products and you could have brought them in from a package that was infested in the store. They are harmless but you need to find out the source and throw it away. It is also likely that they have infested anything grain related like flour or baking mixes that you have in your pantry, so take the time to check the boxes/bags. If you have them flying around, they have been there a while. They start out as little crawly bugs and then morph to the flying stage. There are also great non-toxic traps called Pantry Moth Traps that can be found at Lowe's. It will help get rid of ones you can't see.

 

[n2mm]

We had a terrible time with those in our area here this summer/fall. I found a home remedy that worked great. You take 1/4 cup of vinegar, add some dish soap (I used dawn) and fill with water to the top making a sudsy foam. Leave it sit out and the vinegar attracts the bugs and they land on the foam and die. I didn't think this would work, but it did. I did this for about a week, changing the soap/water daily and was amazed at how many of those things were flying around. I think it was from the bananas and tomatoes I had on the counter early fall. I solved our issue and I've not seen any since! Good luck.

 

[pigletto]

If you don't have a fruit/veggie source that they are after, then I agree with the pp.. they are most likely a type of bug that is after the grains. Check in open bags of flower, cornmeal, cookies, pasta and you will likely find source.

 

[mafibisha]

If you don't have a fruit/veggie source that they are after, then I agree with the pp.. they are most likely a type of bug that is after the grains. Check in open bags of flower, cornmeal, cookies, pasta and you will likely find source.

IOW, when I peek into a box of cereal, they may fly out at me?

I guess I will try it....

Thank you all for your replies.

 

[ktlm]

Your flour is the most likely culprit. We had that happen once years and years ago. I learned real fast to keep my package of floor sealed inside a ziplock bag after that. If they aren't in your flour, check all the other grains, pastas, etc. You will need to clean out your whole pantry, and take a look at every thing to be sure they have not gotten into anything else. I recommend taking everything out of the pantry while inspecting each item and throwing anything away that they have gotten into (or that you question whether they might have), wiping down the shelves really well, and then putting stuff back in the pantry one by one making sure it is completely sealed. The good thing is that they are not hard to get rid of. Once you get rid of everything they have gotten into and get rid of the stragglers, you should be fine. When you replace items, be sure that you store whatever the source of the problem was in a sealed container and hopefully you won't have the problem again.

 

[ktlm]

Just FYI- even if it isn't an old box, that doesn't mean it isn't the source. It is possible that you got a box from the store that they had already infested. This also means that even when you take out sealed boxes or containers look at them very closely, because it is possible they came in in a brand new box, and have eaten their way out by making a small hole somewhere.

 

[IndyJammer]

Same Issue - but I know where mine came from - about a week ago, I found a bag of potatoes hidden in the bottom of the pantry that had been there for a little longer than they should have been!

Thanks for the remedy n2mm - I have some remnants left that that are still hanging around so I will try that this afternoon!

 

[North of Mouse]

I agree with most of the PP, but I had them several years ago and they were brown winged things when grown and I like to have never gotten rid of them. Had to empty a full walk-in pantry and throw away a lot of food. They weren't like the tiny fruit flies that I get sometimes around bananas, etc. These were way worse I had to open every box and right under the flaps were these tiny gross worms. Still don't know where we got them, but at the time we had a parrot and kept the seeds in a plastic bag in the garage and found some in there! Threw away food, then as PP said wiped everything down really good and re inspected everything I put back after wiping each and everything down. What a time consuming time and gross mess. Since then I have seen them flying around in the dry pet dept. of some stores and definitely do not buy dry pet food there and make DH keep it sealed in the RV barn. I'm definitely paranoid now We also buy wild bird seed and do the same thing with it. It's the most horrible thing I've had to deal with in my kitchen - makes you feel so unclean

 

[apnep]

You take 1/4 cup of vinegar, add some dish soap (I used dawn) and fill with water to the top making a sudsy foam. Leave it sit out and the vinegar attracts the bugs and they land on the foam and die. I didn't think this would work, but it did.

Yes to this! I tried just setting out vinegar and water but that didn't work. My mom was staying with me and she said to add the dish soap and within a couple of hours there were a bunch of those fruit flies floating around in there! I don't know what it is about the dish soap but it works!

 

[NYCDiane]

I would toss everything out from your pantry other than canned/bottled goods. If you're seeing these bugs, you can believe they're already IN everything in there --- cereals, flours, pastas, etc. Even boxes that are sealed, they can burrow into and lay eggs and you would never know it until they hatch. The hole they burrow is tinier than a pinhole.

Clean the entire pantry with a bleach/water solution. Afterwards, you can also try Dawn/water solution.

 

[sdchickie]

Oops double post.

 

[sdchickie]

If they are fruit flies, I do the same Dawn and vinegar solution and put cling wrap on the top of it and punch little holes in it. They crawl through the holes and can't get back out.

 

[malibuconlee]

We had problems with them for awhile. It was the bananas. YUK! Finally we put the bananas in the garage for awhile and got rid of them. I had tried all the tricks and cleaned really well, but it took awhile this last time. Haven't seen any in awhile.

 

[SDSorority]

We have a walk in pantry and I just discovered way too many teeny tiny fruit flies (?) in there! YUCK!! So y'll know everything so please tell me:

1) What are they? Are they miniature fruit flys?
2) Where did they come from in the middle of winter? Is it because its more spring like now with this warm front we're having?
3) How do I get rid of them? Exteminator or will they just die?
4) Do you think they got into any food? What should I throw out?

Ugh, it is always something.

TIA.

We got rid of fruit flies last year with small bowls of apple cider vinegar with a little bit of honey mixed in. You can also do apple cider vinegar with a little bit of dish soap- both worked, and was the ONLY thing we could do to get rid of them!!!! SOOOOO annoying, I know.

 

[islangrl]

I agree with most of the PP, but I had them several years ago and they were brown winged things when grown and I like to have never gotten rid of them. Had to empty a full walk-in pantry and throw away a lot of food. They weren't like the tiny fruit flies that I get sometimes around bananas, etc. These were way worse I had to open every box and right under the flaps were these tiny gross worms. Still don't know where we got them, but at the time we had a parrot and kept the seeds in a plastic bag in the garage and found some in there! Threw away food, then as PP said wiped everything down really good and re inspected everything I put back after wiping each and everything down. What a time consuming time and gross mess. Since then I have seen them flying around in the dry pet dept. of some stores and definitely do not buy dry pet food there and make DH keep it sealed in the RV barn. I'm definitely paranoid now We also buy wild bird seed and do the same thing with it. It's the most horrible thing I've had to deal with in my kitchen - makes you feel so unclean

Ugh, we had these! If that's what they are, check all your spices too. They were under the lids and I just threw away the dark spices since I couldn't be 100% sure.
Good luck!