House Fly

Musca domestica

House flies are the most common type of fly found indoors. They feed and breed on decaying organic matter, and are a common sight around kitchen garbage and spoiled food. Infestations are often a result of poor sanitation.

While they don’t bite, house flies have been known to transport harmful bacteria and can spread diseases like typhoid fever, dysentery, and cholera by contaminating food and surfaces.

Fruit Fly

Drosophila melanogaster

Fruit flies are attracted to ripened fruits and vegetables. They’re often brought into homes as microscopic eggs on the surface of moist or over-ripened produce from gardens or grocery stores.

Once inside, they mature and reproduce at an astonishing rate–a single female can lay up to 500 eggs, which hatch and become adults after about a week.

Fruit flies are generally harmless, but they may potentially carry bacteria and contaminate food.

Drain Flies / Moth Flies

Psychoda spp.

Drain flies resemble tiny moths that infest bathrooms and kitchens in large numbers, usually as a result of a slow or clogged drain. They feed on bacteria and the moist, slimy, organic matter that collects around sinks, bathtubs, and floor drains.

They are weak fliers that tend to make short, hopping flights when disturbed.

Drain flies do not bite or spread diseases, but they can contaminate food and water. Heavy infestations may also trigger asthma and allergies.

Phorid Flies

Phoridae spp.

Phorid flies are also known as “scuttle flies” because they are weak fliers and will instead try to escape danger by running and hopping erratically across surfaces.

They’re attracted to moist, decaying organic matter, which they feed and breed in. In addition to kitchens and bathrooms, they are also frequently spotted in basements, garbage containers, drain pipes, and wall voids.

Biting Midges / No-See-Ums

Culicoides spp.

Biting midges are tiny, bloodsucking flies that inflict sharp, painful bites on exposed skin, leaving behind burning or itching sensations, reddish bumps, and sometimes welts or blisters.

Due to their tiny size, they are hard to see and can easily crawl through window screens and door screens to get inside homes. They are most active around dawn and dusk, although biting can also take place at night.

Dark-Winged Fungus Gnats

Sciaridae spp.

Dark-winged fungus gnats are small, short-lived insects that resemble tiny mosquitoes.

They normally live outside in moist soil where they feed on fungi and other organic matter. Indoors, dark-winged fungus gnats are typically spotted near houseplants, infesting potting soil.

Adult fungus gnats are completely harmless but their larvae are problematic, damaging roots and stunting plant growth.