Officials at the Hawaii Department of Agriculture say a common pest is becoming more noticeable.
Even though the vinegar fly has been in Hawaii for more than a hundred years, people have been calling the Department of Agriculture to find out what they are.
As bugs go, the vinegar fly isn't much of a concern to humans.
"These are mostly what you might call scavengers - they're feeding on rotten fruits out in the field," said state taxonomist Bernarr Kumashiro.
"They're mostly considered a nuisance pest and occasionally we get calls for them when customers find them inside their homes or offices," said Michael Botha, president of Sandwich Isle Pest Control.
But every once in a while vinegar flies infest a home or business that has no idea what they are.
That's where state taxonomist Bernarr Kumashiro steps in - he'll identify just about any bug that's brought to the Department of Agriculture.
"We're interested in doing it because we're interested in so-called invasive species, you know the new things that come into Hawaii," said Kumashiro.
However, the vinegar fly is well-known and well-established in Hawaii.
The best way to get rid of them is to go after what they're attracted to, what they're feeding on and where they lay their eggs.
"The main thing to get rid of these flies is locate a source and if you get rid of the source then you won't have the problem anymore," said Kumashiro.
The vinegar fly is only one of hundreds of species of flies in Hawaii.
Recently a Honolulu condominium called on Sandwich Isle Pest Solution because of a "problem with tiny fungus gnats," which are actually a type of fly.
"And they're called fungus gnats because they often are associated with fungus. Wherever there's moisture and fungus you'll often find the adults congregating," said Botha.
Just like vinegar flies, fungus gnats cause no health problems in humans.
However, getting rid of any fly takes persistence.
"In the case of any fly control you have to identify the breeding site because if you can't identify the breeding site you can never, ever kill enough of the adults to solve the problem - they'll always outbreed you," said Botha.
So remember, to get rid of any infestation you first need to know which fly you're dealing with.
"There's so many different flies and you really want to identify the species you're dealing with in order to identify how to solve the problem," said Botha.
The Department of Agriculture will gladly take a look at any unknown insect if you give them a call.
