Not fruit flies, fungus gnats. I've noticed that even if just one plant has them, they will travel around to all. At work, we use yellow sticky traps, which are non-toxic and work well, and probably cheaper than the venus flytraps. Also, if you can, set up a fan for circulation in the vicinity of your plants. This will help keep them at bay. I've just noticed them to be nuisances, but I've heard from others that in large quanitities they can be damaging to your plants.

VFT's might not cut it... The fungus gnats might be too small to trigger the hairs. I don't know how familiar you are with carnivorous plants, but if you look closely at each of the two pads that comprise the trap, each has 3 "trigger hairs" of which two must be touched, or one touched twice, within ten seconds for the trap to close. Personally I have invested in Sundews. Another carnivorous plant that does better in the lower light conditions of a houseplant, (VFT's need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight), that while not as extravagant as the VFT, its leaves are covered in tiny tentacles that secrete goo. The fungus gnats have no chance when they get stuck, and the plant "knows" where the bug is, because each tentacle near the bug reaches toward it and begins secreting its digestive enzymes.

All of this being said...Don't get a carnivorous plant to get rid of your bugs; it will not happen. If you want to completely rid yourself of the gnats use poison or the yellow traps elfinn spoke of, although I have seen mixed reviews of them. If you are like me (and it's difficult, my roomate hates it) you can look at the bugs as a resource that allows you to grow carnivorous plants well.

The fungus gnats only live a short time, but lay hundreds of eggs and only live in moist soil, thus the top of the soil should be dry for a while You mentioned letting the soil dry out, but the plants wilted. Perhaps you could bottom-water for a month or so. Filling a bucket with water, and dunking the pot in it about 1/3 of the way for a few minutes. Also, I've only had them in compacted soil. Get out a fork and mix around the top inch or so of soil in the pot. Furthermore, elfinn was right, the fungus gnats are nothing more than a nuisance until there are a lot of them, at which point they will suck your roots dry. Best of luck.

you guys are great. I should have thought about the fan. My plants in my living room never get them but I have a giant industrial fan i run in there in the summer. I have been thinking about gettnig a VFT anyway. they have them at walmart and i wanted to rescue at least one b4 they are completely neglected by wally world. ill try fans for now. thanks again!

The fan is good, but I think you should go ahead and get a VFT anyway. Just check out the CP forum so you don't kill it as soon as you get home, as is the fate of most of the VFT's in the "cubes of death". Not that you necessarily would kill it, but I have one that I opened as soon as I got home, and another that I opened slowly. The former still can't stand up on its own, and the latter has allready formed another trap.

Yeah, when taxes come, im going to pick one up for the fun of it. I remember my brother attempting one. it shriveled up real quick. My extensive apartment jungle needs to be more organized b4 i tackle fragile plants like that.

It can take a long, long time for FG's to kill a plant, but they're unattractive.
Perhaps the soil you're using is too heavy..??? You're not using moss atop soil, right? I've seen soil covered w/sphagnum moss, infested w/fg's..
How many plants have gnats? Too many to repot?
I doubt a VFT will kill gnats, but it's a cute plant to have. Toni

Ive got them about controlled. It was one room. Probably lack of circulation. I put a fan lightly blowing over them for awhile and with the nice weather I was able to open windows and freshen my place up. Thanks for the feedback. I know the sparce ammount i have isnt lethal, but you're right, they're annoying.

Glad to hear that you've got it under control :) I'm a fellow Michigander and I think I actually heard a sigh of relief from my plants when I was finally able to open up the house this weekend, too!

i read on his forum that all you have to do is put a layer of coarse sand on top. i put a layer of lava rocks (aquarium rocks are good too) - and they went away.

I don't believe that sphagnum moss itself causes or contributes to fungus gnats, except that it acts like a mulch to keep the soil moist longer, and wet soil creates favorable conditions for the fungus gnat larvae. The larvae come into your home in the soil itself. Soils with a large proportion of peat seem to be the biggest problem.

All of the good potting mixes are peat based. You can improve the porosity of any of them by adding lots of extra perlite before potting. The coarser and more fast draining the potting medium, the less likely you will be bothered by a major FG infestation.

Watergal, I didn't mean the moss itself caused FG's..but like you stated, moss acts as a mulch, keeping soil wet..When I worked at Rentokil, 95% of the plants in pots 8" and up contained sphagnum moss..80% of those plants arrived w/FG's. I've also seen FG's back when Frank's Nursery was opened.
Constantly wet soil, dry air, and no air circulation is an open invitation to bugs. The most important thing for ppl to remember is never keep plants' soil soaked or sitting in water..And using heavy/black soil by itself is another No-No..Toni

yeah, dont go cheap on soil. i know it can be tempting to buy the dollar store bargain, but your plants wont thrive.