My first thought is a hover fly. The reason I say that is because we usually see one or two around here and all of the sudden, they are everywhere! Tons of them. They hover in place almost like a hummingbird, then fly off and hover more.
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It’s not that. They’re quite small and they don’t fly too much. They crawl more than fly but they will fly for short periods. They don’t have big eyes either. Maybe they’re more like a fruit fly
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I think I may have identified them as phorid flies. They have a thicker torso almost like a flea and I think the stripes is from them decaying inside the trap. They appear brown when not in liquid.
Any ideas on how to eliminate them? So far, I put mosquito bits on the soil and I’ve steeped them in water and watered the plants with that. This is only day two after using the water so I’m holding hope that it killed the larvae and once the adults die, they’ll be gone.
I’ve also used Neem oil but this usually seems to be a better preventative measure than extermination method.
I have quite a few other traps like sticky strips and vinegar traps. They are somewhat effective but ofc not all will go to them.
I’m nervous to use any harsher insecticides as the last time it killed my plant even though it seemed safe on another plant, a lemon tree.
I wondered if using fabric pots would help or just be a waste of money. They seem to like to go down the sides into the pot. Or if there is an effective insecticide that is confirmed safe to use on the plants.
Im sorry im so late on this. Your right it is hogh af for 3 tiny bottles. It goes a long way though u mix a very s all amount with water. It works! But i looked on the bottle for ya and the active is urea nitrogen. 1% and like i said its like 5 mililiters per liter if water so be very sparing. But it absolutely works i dprayed mine and had no problems with any bugs at all. When i first got it it was something chewing holes in my leaves. I was finding these tiny red mites. I realize im so late on responding depending on your location grow season may be up but i hope this helps in the future grwoing endeavors. Urea nitrogen is the active
I used Diatomaceous earth, put on the soil and mixed it with water and sprayed on the leaves and I put about 5 of those glue traps around which seemed to be quite effective. Went from having probably hundreds of them to finding maybe one if I move the plants.
I don’t know which was more effective, the traps got a bunch but I would think there would be more if the DE didn’t kill them in the soil. Took about a week for me to notice the population decline. Plus you can get a good size bag of DE for 10-15 bucks. More than enough for multiple growing seasons.
But I know it’s hard to switch when you find something effective that also doesn’t hurt the plants. I’m always nervous trying new things as I have killed a few plants before.
Ive read that DE is not as effective wet as it is dry. Stating that it is almost irrevelant wet and should only be applied dry. Something to maybe look into more for both of us. I always prefer documented sources with solid lab results before i take anything to be truth. So I’m passing this bit of info as hearsay, maybe “bro science” as i haven’t had a chance to research this myself. Nevertheless, happy growing! 
Sry for being late. If you mix it with water and spray it, the water dries quite quickly and just leaves the de lightly coating the leaf. It’ll get wet on the soil after watering but I put the fan directed towards it and it dries after 1-2 days, some quicker.
You just don’t want to keep the soil soaked, obviously for the plants health as well.
I think applying it with a spray bottle is better as you don’t get the dust in the air. I don’t have a designated applicator for it, I want to find something eventually but for now spraying it works.
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