Where do Gnats Lay Eggs? (Key Places &Ways to Prevent)

Uncertain of where gnats lay their eggs and perplexed as to why you keep noticing them in your home.

Well, you’ve arrived at the right location!

In this article I’ll share with you, 5 of the most likely places to check for gnats and gnat eggs.

In addition, I’ll offer advice on how to catch gnats and check areas that are challenging to inspect, like drains and food processors, where they might be hiding.

Continue reading to learn more.

What Gnats Look Like

Gnats are tiny, winged insects with long, slender bodies that are dark brown in color. They measure about one-fourth of an inch long. Although they can’t fly well, they have a fly like appearance. Another kind of gnat is the long-legged, black fungus gnat.

Gnats frequently inhabit soil and other moist areas and fly in large numbers. Although they’re not necessarily dangerous, gnats are annoying and difficult to get rid of. Due to this, home and yard owners are interested in learning the most effective, long-lasting gnat control methods.

Where Gnats Come From

Gnats primarily feed on eggs laid in unripe fruits. The larvae consume the rotting fruit to develop into adult gnats. Additionally, gnats can enter your house through an unlocked door or window. If there’s a garbage bin nearby that has a gnat infestation, it’s not uncommon to have a few of these insects trickle inside.

Gnats have several entry points into your home, including the outside, eggs laid in produce, and potting soil. Gnats live in moist areas and decaying matter once they have entered your home. The few gnats that do bite cause irritating bites, even though most do not. Additionally, the fungus gnat can kill seedlings and houseplants by feeding on their roots, and the eye gnat can spread pink eye and cause pink eye.

5 Key Places to Check for Gnats and Gnat Eggs

If you want to get rid of gnats permanently, look in these five areas where they are most likely to lay their eggs.

Drains

In and around drains is one of the most frequent locations where you can find these insects, particularly moth gnats.

Gnats prefer warm, moist environments, so they will congregate in a sink or bathtub if there are both.

Air conditioner and refrigerator condensation drains are similar locations where you can also find moth flies.

Typically, finding a bug in a sink, like a silverfish, does not indicate that it is residing inside the pipes.

The majority of bugs just drop by for a drink and maybe a tour of your drain, but turning it into a home is quite another thing.

That’s because as soon as you turned on the faucet, the water would carry them off into the distance.

This is not how it works when dealing with gnats. The ooze and slime found inside the pipes and drains are simply too good to pass up.

A guest bathroom or other drains and pipes with stagnant water are where you’re most likely to find them.

Gnats won’t give up this ideal breeding location, though, and they can actually survive the tap flow even if you use them.

There are a few ways to determine whether gnats are residing in your drains if you are unsure. Simple and quick is the first approach.

The air is passed down by waving your hand directly over the sink drain.

If there are moth flies inside right now, they’ll leave as soon as they detect a change in the air movement from what they’re used to.

If gnats are currently in the drain, this hand trick will only be effective. If that didn’t work, you can also attach a clear piece of tape to the drain.

Leave the tape on overnight, leaving the tiniest opening for air to enter. You’ll have the most blatant indication of an infestation because as gnats attempt to escape, they’ll become stuck to the tape.

Kitchen Sink

Gnats are more likely to live inside your kitchen sink if it has a garbage disposal because it serves as their Swedish table of organic matter.

In most cases, moth flies lay their eggs directly beneath the sink’s drain opening. The bottom section frequently has slime and scum covering it, which makes it an excellent place for breeding.

As a result of the goo’s extreme stickiness, the eggs are kept in place and aren’t washed away by the water. Larvae are surrounded by all the debris they can eat as soon as they hatch.

Similar to the previous point, you can use clear tape to see if there are any gnats living in your kitchen sink pipes.

In search of potential mates, these curious insects will eventually attempt to exit the sink. When they do, your trap will have them in it.

Trash Can

Gnats enjoy all organic material, even before it decomposes; don’t assume they only eat decayed organic matter.

Exactly like the banana peel you just threw in the garbage. In fact, one of the most frequent locations to find gnats is in your trash can.

Gnats of a certain species are most drawn to kitchens by fruit flies. Their red eyes and tan bodies with black stripes make them easy to identify.

Considering their love of fermentation, they are also known as vinegar flies. Their favorite snacks are those rotten fruits you just threw away.

But they also won’t say no to alcohol. Thus, if a glass of wine is left out for a few days, you might discover that someone has been imbibing it in your kitchen.

Knowing how gnats like to eat, you shouldn’t be surprised that your trash can is where they prefer to live and lay their eggs.

Summer and fall are the seasons when most fruits and vegetables ripen and are harvested, so during these seasons, their populations expand at the speed of light.

You should therefore anticipate seeing 100 more by tomorrow if you see one today. Unless you immediately begin handling them.

A useful bug is a gnat. Where they eat is where they breed. They have little time since they only have an average lifespan of 40 to 50 days in perfect health.

500 eggs, all of which will hatch in a little more than a day, can be laid by an adult female. This makes your exterminating job even more challenging.

You probably won’t even find their eggs, in fact. Because overripe or decaying produce, empty cans, even bread crumbs, are all places where fruit flies lay their eggs.

There’s no way you want to get up close and personal with the contents of your trash can unless you have a really congested nose.

Your best course of action when dealing with gnats is to throw away your trash bag and thoroughly clean your trash can and the area around it.

Gnats will return, though, if your trash can isn’t tightly sealed. They’ll look for a different home to settle in if they can’t get inside.

Pantry

It’s not unusual to find gnats hanging out in your pantry given that they’re flying around your home looking for juicy food.

Particularly if you made an effort to keep your trash can and sink clean and dry.

While a black, rotten banana may be their preferred food, if that isn’t available, they will gladly accept the fresh fruits that you just bought.

It’s a struggle, to be honest, to get rid of fruit flies in your pantry.

They’ll lay eggs on just about any fruit or vegetable, and because they’re so tiny, it’s nearly impossible to find them.

Furthermore, they might spend the entire winter if you don’t deal with them right away. Well, not those exact bugs as their lifespans are up to 50 days, but their future generations.

House Plants

Checking for a gnat infestation in the kitchen and bathroom is a no-brainer.

When considering moisture, both of them immediately spring to mind. However, your home also offers a different habitat option that is both moist and organically rich. your indoor plants’ soil

The gnats that frequently buzz around indoor plants are known as fungus gnats.

They prefer moist soil, so any plant that has recently received water feels to them like an all-inclusive vacation spot.

Gnats typically lay their eggs close to plant stems, on the soil’s surface in pots. They hatch in three days, are tiny, and have a yellowish color.

Larvae will eat fungi and decaying plant matter for the next two weeks. However, they occasionally consume plant roots as well.

Indicators of larvae biting on roots and stems include poor growth and yellowing leaves.

The larvae of fungus gnats require moist soil to survive. Therefore, reducing watering and allowing the soil to dry are two ways to combat them.

But bear in mind that this is not an immediate fix, and it is certainly insufficient to eradicate fungus gnats on its own.

Repotting your plant in new soil is actually probably the best way to get rid of bothersome larvae.

The fact that you would need to remove as much soil from plant roots as you can in order to ensure that no larvae are attempting to enter the freshly soiled pot makes this method less than miraculous.

On the other hand, digging up the plant’s roots could harm it and even kill it.

Read more: How To Get Rid of Spider Mites On Houseplants for Good – New Planting

How to Get Rid of Gnats, Step by Step

Consistent removal efforts are the only surefire way to get rid of gnats. To learn a few quick, simple ways to get rid of gnats, follow these instructions.

Step 1: Remove All Possible Sources of Gnats Indoors.

Fix leaks that let moisture into the house, get rid of contaminated potted soil, and throw out rotting fruit. Put some potato wedges in the pot to see if the soil is contaminated. Check them a few days later to see if you have larvae or gnats.

Step 2: Kill Bugs on Sight

To get rid of gnats right away, use an indoor insecticide like Hot Shot Kitchen Bug Killer. To catch the last of the gnats, place gnat traps. Place a number of them all over your home for the best results.

Step 3: Get Rid of Gnats in Potted Plants

Remove any contaminated soil, and then plant a trap, like Garsum Yellow Sticky Stakes, in the newly created soil.

Step 4: Get Rid of Gnats Outside

Insecticides with permethrin as the active ingredient, such as Martin’s Permethrin 10% Multipurpose Insecticide and Pivot 10 IGR, should be used to treat potting soil that has larvae in it. Aerate your lawn using a manual aerator to make these solutions more effective.

Step 5: Prevent Future Infestations

Dishwasher cleaning should be done as well as bleaching and letting dry trash cans as well as catching gnats until they are gone.

Products You Can Use to Treat a Gnat Infestation

• Hot Shot Kitchen Bug Killer: This mixture is safe to use indoors with the right ventilation when battling gnats in your home.
• Bonide Systemic House Plant Insect Control: Use this insecticide to prevent gnat eggs from developing into larvae in the soil of indoor plants.
• Garum Yellow Sticky Stakes: These harmless sticky traps draw in and capture gnats.
• Martin’s Permethrin 10% Multipurpose Insecticide: Use this product to clean up the initial gnat infestation in both indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Pivot 10 Insect Growth Regulator: Gnats can be effectively controlled by this for up to seven months.
• Black+Decker Electric Bug Zapper: Without using insecticides, this eliminates gnats outside.

FAQ

In Conclusion

Gnats can be a real pain in the neck, even though they’re usually not dangerous to our health.

You should take action against them as soon as you suspect their presence because they reproduce quickly.

And to do that, you must discover where they breed.

Fortunately, it’s very simple to do that. They have little time because of their short lifespans, so they lay their eggs right next to their main food sources.