White flies in hotel bathrooms

Question: Today I visited a hotel in Dubai and noticed that they have a problem with flies. The flies are white in color and they seem to be “oozing” from the drain pipes in almost all the bathrooms. Could you please tell me what species of the flies and what methods of control are used?

Answer: There are several species of flies that can breed in drains in bathrooms. These include moth flies (sometimes called drain flies), phorid flies, house flies and some other species of small flies. None of these flies are white ... so I don't recognize what you have coming out of the drains ... unless you are referring to the maggots—these would be white. The maggots will be eating the gunk that is in the drain, but, when it comes time to pupate and later become adults they will leave the wet environment for dryer areas to do this.

The best solution to this problem is to first physically clean the drains. Remove as much of the organic material as possible. Then, use a biological drain cleaner on a regular basis (every two weeks).

Your local Orkin Branch Office can talk to you about a drain program using our bacterial cleaning agent.