How to eliminate various infestations

[Proud90sKid]

I have dealt with a few different infested apartments. I just got rid of a fruit fly infestation (yay!). Here is what works and what doesn't

Fruit flies: these are an annoying pest, but fortunately are very easy to get rid of if you do it the correct way. They are aggressive with how fast they reproduce. You can go from having just a couple fruit flies to having thousands within a a bit over a week. They don't exactly nest, but instead lay eggs in suitable locations (usually the drains, the drink you are currently having, or that trash bag you forgot existed). Once, I got a serious infestation because I was assigned by roommates to take out the trash and as a new resident I didn't have any clue that there was a trash can in the garage (an area that was mainly used by the landlord). If you have fruit flies, then there are also maggots, which most people find more disgusting. Anyways, there are a few things that DONT work. Don't make vinegar traps, don't fog the place up with pesticide fumigators, don't attempt to swat them all, and don't waste your time with electric zapper traps. None of this will work. You will kill some flies, but not make a dent in the infestation. You are only killing a small percent while they are well, breeding like flies. You need to identify the source(s) in your house. Because there isnt exactly a nest, there can be multiple sources. Vinegar traps are a very poor way of addressing fruit flies. Similarly, while flies don't try to "hide" like roaches do, it is likely that whatever they are breeding in is out of sight (else, you'd have seen it prior to getting the flies). As such, pesticide "bombs" and fumigators are unlikely to reach the maggots. However, usually there is only one or two hot spots. Find this, and remove it from your house. If they are drain flies and not fruit flies, same logic applies but use boiling water and pour it down. They won't aggressively try to come back in like roaches, so you don't even need to kill them. Just get them OUT. After doing this, your fruit fly population will fall significantly, but not to zero. The remaining flies will be looking to lay eggs wherever. Therefore, it is important to keep everything clean. Opening a window can help some stray flies escape as well. Spraying isnt really the answer. Ive eradicated infestations without any pesticide whatsoever.

Ants: with ants you are going to want to use a delayed bait. Don't just spray with bug spray. Borax is what I like to use. It is fairly non-toxic to humans and animals. But make
sure that all they have to eat is the bait. Do that deep
cleaning. You are going to want to add a small amount of this to something that the ants will enjoy eating (like honey). Ants live in colonies and it is the colony you want to kill (some have even referred to it as a "super organism" analogous to human society being a "consciousness" in and of itself). You want to poison that superorganism. That is where the delayed acting bait comes in. Worker ants will eat it and then walk back to their colonies. They regurgitate what they have eaten to communicate that there is food to other ants. Other ants will then line up and grab the bait. They will then regurgitate it for the queen. Eventually, the once health colony is completely poisoned and cannot function properly, killing it. It takes longer than eradicating flies, but usually they are less of a pest.

American cockroach: one of the ugliest creatures Ive ever seen. The sight of one will have you running for the Raid spray. Fortunately, they are an outdoor loving species. They typically reproduce out of sight in attics or other locations that are semi-exposed to the outdoors. Seal off anywhere they can enter and place baits in the attic. Ive never had them take over my place of residence before. They also tend to nest, but prefer to do so outdoors. Once, I was removing a cardboard palm and when I cut into the roots, literal thousands of these things came rushing out. I was disgusted, but at least it was a happy day for the lizards and the birds, who came running towards the area to grab a quick meal.

German cockroach: these are less ugly than American roaches, but they are the closest thing to a residence or building developing cancer. If you have only seen American roaches, they may seem less threatening. But once you know what they really are...your heart will sink upon the sight of one. One joke is that there are only two ways of getting rid of them : boric acid and arson. Except unfortunately, it isn't completely a joke, because there is a reported case of the fire department doing a controlled burn on a house that had a hopeless infestation of german roaches. They literally burned the house to ground the infestation was so bad. German roaches are disgusting and can literally BREED without their head. They are nocturnal and while they breed in specific areas, they don't establish a colony. They also prefer indoor environments and love to hitch a ride on anything cardboard (such as that package you received in the mail). They also love to go from apartment to apartment, unit to unit, room to room, and even house to house. They poop everywhere (such as on your closeted clothes and all the pots and pans) and this poop looks like black pepper that has been laid down. They also reproduce extremely rapidly (so that a single eggsack from a package you received and failed to notice can become literal millions of breeding roaches in under a year). Their eggsacks? Immune to pesticides. Oh and while the flies are attracted to light and prefer the most well lit and exposed part of the room, these roaches seek out the darkest corners where they are hidden. They can also be extremely small during their younger months and can destroy your electronics. They also poop on and eat paper. Hitting them with raid is the wrong way to address these pests, because for every roach you do see there could be a million you don't. You need to do a deep cleaning and then knock down the adult population as best as you can with pesticide. That won't cure the problem but will temporarily allow you to breath a bit easier. After that, lay various baits (such as fipronil- a GABA antagonist that will give them seizures) around. Fortunately, roaches are so disgusting that despite not living in a colony, the baits work because they eat each other and each other's feces. It will take several weeks to notice any difference though. You need to deep clean because otherwise they wont take the bait. Also, need to put the bait in dots and resist the urge to lay it in a straight line (because that spooks them for some reason). In addition, periodically sprinkle a solid sand like substance called boric acid around your place (it is hardly if at all toxic to people or pets and lasts essentially forever). Dont put a mountain of it anywhere because roaches will avoid walking through large clumps. When they walk through it, it damages their exoskeleton (imagine crawling through fiberglass) and when they eat it, it roughs up their innards like eating glass. The dead roaches will be eaten by the live (and feces will be eaten as well) so eventually, the bait will kill the infestation. Make sure to sprinkle the baits in any dark crevice. It is going to take a while, unlike eliminating fruit flies , so be patient. Inject the interior of furniture with boric acid powder as well. Periodically clean and destroy any egg sacks you find (google what they look like).German roaches are like a cancer and not only will they keep getting worse if ignored, it will require multiple treatments and a multi-faceted approach. Also, dry the sinks and drains every night to restrict water. If it is really bad, you may need to remove some drywall and dust some boric acid into the walls. They are also tenacious, hardy, and stubborn and they can be resistant to these attempts. Their egg sacks are immune to pesticide. The sacks look like a piece of a popcorn kernel.But with enough effort, they go away. But enough effort may mean not only having a spotless living space, but also boric acid in enough locations they have no choice but to walk through it. It is very annoying, but the truth is that until they are gone, your apartment, condo or house is severely ill. Id argue they are the worst infestation you can possibly have. German roaches make baiting even harder in that they have different taste preferences and many won't eat a sugar-based bait. Fortunately they are less common of an infestation than fruit flies, even with a messy place. But when you have them, you have them. All it takes is one roommate (or yourself) unwittingly getting a package where one roach has laid a sack.

[¯|_(ツ)_|¯]

Definitely is a good day for you that you eliminated a fruit flu infestation! I’m dealing with one between the guinea pig room (I know the source) and the bathroom so I gotta work on it.

[Arabesque- golfing girl.]

I'm so glad that you were able to get them to go away. Hopefully they don't come back.