The 3 keys to success

No. 1: Identify the Fly. Knowing the species of small fly causing the problem generally points you where to inspect, what to look for and the type of treatment required.

“Identification is huge in fly problems because they all have their preferred breeding source. Where are they laying their eggs? Where do we find that, and what is their preference?” said Lucas Geer, Walker Pest Management.

Jashawn Anderson, Divine Pest Specialists, agreed. “One thing that I was always taught is that flies aren’t a problem, they’re the result of a problem. So, you figure out the type of flies you’re dealing with and that will pretty much narrow down the conditions that the flies need to thrive. You just search for those.”

PMPs said fruit flies (71 percent), drain flies (69 percent) and fungus gnats (47 percent) were most problematic in their market areas, according to the 2024 PCT State of the Small Fly Control Market survey.

Fruit flies (44 percent) represented the largest percentage of service calls in the past year.

The number of small fly jobs at pest control company locations remained consistent year over year, reported 52 percent of PMPs, while 40 percent said the number of small fly jobs increased.

No. 2: Find the Breeding Source. Every small fly species has a preferred medium in which to lay eggs. This is what attracts flies in the first place and allows them to maintain their life cycle.

“Moth or drain flies prefer gelatinous organic material. For phorid flies, they prefer the more biological, decaying blood and the disgusting stuff like that. Fruit flies prefer your fruits and all your fermented things,” said Geer. Fungus gnats like the decaying organic material in the soil of overwatered plants.

“The adults, they die pretty quickly, but the population continues because there are eggs being laid somewhere and that’s what keeps the fly population going,” explained Geer.

And you may be dealing with more than one breeding site. “The micro habitats are everywhere. I’ve always been told that fruit flies can live and breed in something about the size of a quarter,” said Stephen Gates, vice president of technical services, Cook’s Pest Control, Decatur, Ala.

The flies may be breeding in the decaying lime wedge underneath the bar, a scummy prep sink drain tube, slimy drains, decaying matter under cracked tiles, where grout is missing behind plastic baseboard molding, in the mess of leaking syrup lines, where HVAC condensation is pooling, in fermenting spilled beverages, the sour mop in the corner, a dead animal in the wall — the list goes on and on.

The pests can provide clues to where they are breeding. “Most of the adults that are doing the breeding, they hang out where they like to breed. If you pay attention, they’ll tell you, ‘Hey, this is where we like to be,’” said Ray Hess, training consultant.

But finding the source is not always straightforward. “Sometimes it’s easy; sometimes it’s not. The biggest challenge is trying to think past the simplicity because simple is not always the answer,” said Geer. “It’s never the same. It’s always a fun little hunt.”

No. 3: Create a Partnership. Customer cooperation is an important part of small fly control. Namely, clients have to help eliminate breeding sources that lead to small fly infestations.

Unfortunately, most PMPs — 51 percent — said customers only sometimes took steps to improve sanitation issues, and 29 percent said they got little help from customers on this front.

“Sometimes they cooperate. Sometimes they don’t,” said Divine Pest Specialists’ Anderson, of his company’s small fly customers.

If a client doesn’t cooperate and this causes additional work, Anderson informs the client that he’s raising the price of the service.

“Normally, once I explain that to the client, they either get their stuff together or I just charge them more. And then, if that still continues, I will either propose to them that we come out and do a maintenance drain cleaning service or we can cancel them. I say that because I don’t like having problematic accounts. I try everything in my power to try to get things under control, and every client isn’t a good client. If I see you’re a client who’s not willing to help yourself and I’ve exhausted everything that’s at my disposal, then clearly, we’re not a good match,” said Anderson.

Sometimes an uncooperative client fires the pest control company, only to learn a lesson.

“Sometimes it takes them canceling you and then getting another company and realizing, ‘Hey, they were right,’ and coming back to you. They make good long-term customers after that,” said Gates.