More Urban Species: Drain Fly

[urbpan]

Drain Fly Psychoda alternata, Telmatoscopus albipunctatus, or similar species

cottonmanifesto found this creature in our bathroom sink. At first it was a paradox: It seemed to have two wings, like a fly, but it had long antennae and looked fuzzy, like a moth. It was a quick job to narrow the field down to "moth flies" (family Psychodidae), a group of very small flies that breed in wet, decaying organic matter.

Drain flies specifically breed in the kind of very wet, bacteria rich organic matter that accumulates in clogged gutters, rain soaked trash cans, and old household plumbing. They do not bite (though close relatives called sand flies are blood suckers), or infest food, though one imagines that they could spread disease-causing bacteria from one place to another. In at least one case in South Africa, drain flies were found to cause health problems for sewer workers, who were inhaling large quantities of them. Controls for this animal, when deemed a pest, include cleaning and unclogging drains--and at least one product is specifically designed to help cope with them. It consists of a cocktail of competing bacteria that are supposed to eat the drain fly maggots' nursery out from under them.

Moth flies are weak fliers, but are small enough to pass through window screens. Once outside they become a component of aerial plankton, adrift beyond their control, hoping to land sometime in their 2 week adult life span near another fount of bacterial slime in which to lay their eggs. I did not find it in my research, but I propose that sometimes when one finds a house centipede stranded in a sink or bathtub, that they are hunting drain flies.

Comments

[artemii.livejournal.com]

i found one of these little critters outside earlier this year, but i can't remember if it was here in the yard or further afield. with its big antennae and its decorative wings, my initial instinct was that it was a tiny moth.

interesting thought about the house centipedes. i wonder if that's what the one i found in the kitchen sink in my last apartment was doing.

[ziggysinamerica.livejournal.com]

AWW! It's adorable!

SO that's what those suckers are

[gythiawulfie.livejournal.com]

I was always facinated by their size and shape more than anything else.

Fairly common around septic areas too.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

you should post this to urban_nature.

[buboniclou.livejournal.com]

Man, we have an infestation of those in my kitchen every summer. My dad doesn't take out the compost often enough.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

We have Moth-Flies in our bathroom quite often and leave them be, which the Cellar Spiders in the corners are most agreeable to *g*

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

very common in porta-loos too.

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

How does one rescue a house centipede that's stuck in a sink or bathtub? They seem like they'd be too skittish and fast to scoop out.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I've scooped them out by hand(sort of like a bear slapping salmon out of a river) but you could drape a towel over the side of the tub, to give them something to climb up. You might be able to catch one with a tall cup, too.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

Oh man! We have these in our bathroom at home all the time. I call them toothpaste flies because I imagined they were eating the dried toothpaste spots in our sink.

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

Beautiful and fascinating. Thanks for doing another entry, and en entomological one :)

They are everywhere...

[(Anonymous)]

I came home one day and found these moth like flies everywhere in my home. I do not know where they came from. I opened my cupboard to find they had laid eggs and the laves were everywhere in my food too. where could this come from?? this has never happened before and I want to get rid of it. I've thrown everything out and still find that they are around. I am not sure what type of flies they are but they look like little moths.
PLEASE HELP!! thank you

Re: They are everywhere...

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

That sounds more like indian meal moths. Drain flies are black, and just a couple millimeters long, meal moths are tan and about a centimeter long. Drain flies breed in drains, meal moths breed in your pantry.