Pest Control - What type of gnats are these?

Author

What type of gnats are these?

itafran2002@yahoo.com

2006-12-23, 1:25 pm

Hi, I've noticed small flying gnats with a red body around my soap,
which I need to specify is wrapped within a loofa sponge. Thinking it
was the soap, I threw it away and used another one. With the second
soap, there was no sign of these gnats. I bought the second soap type
again, and the problem came back. I'm chalking it up to the fact that
if the soap gets mushy in the sponge, the cycle starts again. I'm
curious to know whether anyone has had this type of experience, and
what these gnats are. I've looked around gnats classification, and
these don't seem to match any description... Fortunately, the problem
seems to go away if I keep the soap out of the loofa sponge and allow
the soap and the loofa to dry out--also, these gnats are not very fast
and can be caught (i.e., squashed) easily. Thanks in advance for any
info!

Lar

2006-12-23, 8:25 pm

itafran2002@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi, I've noticed small flying gnats with a red body around my soap,
> which I need to specify is wrapped within a loofa sponge. Thinking it
> was the soap, I threw it away and used another one. With the second
> soap, there was no sign of these gnats. I bought the second soap type
> again, and the problem came back. I'm chalking it up to the fact that
> if the soap gets mushy in the sponge, the cycle starts again. I'm
> curious to know whether anyone has had this type of experience, and
> what these gnats are. I've looked around gnats classification, and
> these don't seem to match any description... Fortunately, the problem
> seems to go away if I keep the soap out of the loofa sponge and allow
> the soap and the loofa to dry out--also, these gnats are not very fast
> and can be caught (i.e., squashed) easily. Thanks in advance for any
> info!
>

It's hard to say for sure without seeing the situation, but first
thought of a reddish gnat would be fruit fly, where the source being
somewhere else and adults are attracted to the moist environment of the
bathroom. Can't say I have come across one myself but there is another
red eyed gnat often found in the same environment and confused with
fungus gnats. In bathroom settings there may be moisture under the wall
tiles or in loose grout that has allows algae/fungus to grow for the
gnats to breed.

Lar

itafran2002@yahoo.com

2006-12-24, 8:25 pm

Lar wrote:
> itafran2002@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> It's hard to say for sure without seeing the situation, but first
> thought of a reddish gnat would be fruit fly, where the source being
> somewhere else and adults are attracted to the moist environment of the
> bathroom. Can't say I have come across one myself but there is another
> red eyed gnat often found in the same environment and confused with
> fungus gnats. In bathroom settings there may be moisture under the wall
> tiles or in loose grout that has allows algae/fungus to grow for the
> gnats to breed.
>
> Lar

Hi Lar,
thanks for taking the time to make a guess. I don't think they are
fruit flies. I've seen illustrations of fruit flies and although they
have red eyes, the kind I've noticed in my bathroom has both red eyes
AND body. Their wings fold one on top of the other, giving the gnat a
'unibody' appearance, if that makes any sense. They also seem to have
one eye, not two, but maybe I can't tell them apart. These gnats are
minuscule, just a millimeter in length and half of that in width. If
you catch one and squish it, a red liquid squirts out. My concern is
that the red liquid might be blood, although I can't say I've noticed
any sting marks over me....
ita fran

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