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The common name that entomologists give fruit flies is "vinegar flies." That's because they're naturally attracted to fermented liquid, and when fruit rots, it also ferments. Thankfully, there are ways to kick fruit flies out of your kitchen and expel them from your home. Some steps can help prevent an infestation, while others can help eliminate one. So take a look below, and keep your place free of fruit flies. An entomologist explains why fruit fly infestations happen and how you can stop them.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies, Once and for All
To avoid this infestation, try and keep all ripe fruit and vegetables in the fridge. It’s also a good idea to throw overripe food onto the compost heap and immediately pop empty alcohol bottles in your outdoor recycling bin. So, use this sweet spot as a way to catch them by leaving an open bottle of wine on the kitchen counter.
The Difference Between Fruit Flies And Gnats (And How To Get Rid Of Them Properly)
If you find fruit flies trapped in the bag, the drain is infested. Clean your drains regularly and sanitize with boiling water. You may need to use a brush and industrial drain cleaner.
Terro Fruit Fly Traps (Set of
But fruit flies don't thrive only on rotten fruit or vinegar. They also love sugary substances like soda, wine and beer, and you can find them in the bottom of your trash bin or any wet place with a substantial food source. Quick action at the first sight of fruit flies can curb the problem before an infestation gets out of control. Mature female fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs, which will hatch within 24 to 48 hours.
Unfortunately, considering their reproductive prowess, two tiny fruit flies will quickly multiply into an infestation that can feel almost impossible to control. Invasive fruit flies feed on over 400 crops, including citrus and other fruits, nuts, vegetables, and berries. Fruit flies can damage fruits and vegetables when they lay their eggs under the skin of the produce. There, developing larvae make the fruits and vegetables unfit for human consumption.
For those bugs, check out our guides on how to get rid of gnats and how to make a homemade fly trap. This is why it’s a good idea to keep your trash cans and compost outside or in the garage, if possible. Fruit flies will only go away if you make your home inhospitable to them.
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They invade our kitchens with their tiny wings and their impressive noses, and they aim to steal our fruit and vegetables and fly in our faces. If you’re spending your days Googling how to get rid of fruit flies, there’s a high chance that you’re on your last nerve. After all, adult fruit flies are just 3mm long, but that doesn’t stop them from being a giant pain in the rear. For that vinegar wash, Ludwiczak mixes around two parts water and one part vinegar. She notes that the combination might also keep your food from rotting a little bit longer as it kills some bacteria.
How to prevent fruit flies
Because fruit flies prefer the kitchen, investigate fly issues that appear elsewhere. Drain flies are a common fly that shows up in bathrooms, and fungus gnats are a common flying pest in homes with houseplants. You may also see little clumps of small, moving larvae or "maggots." They are likely to show up on food scraps that have been left out for fruit flies to lay their eggs on. It's perfectly normal to find an occasional insect inside, but finding larger-than-usual numbers of tiny, dark-colored flying insects in your kitchen could indicate a fruit fly infestation. These incredibly small flies easily travel through open doors and windows or on your products from the store.
And since they're attracted to rotting fruit, you should carefully pick your produce at the store to make sure you aren't bringing any rotten or bruised pieces home, Green said. She also added that you should recycle or compost cardboard boxes that hold produce as soon as possible, because fruit flies could be breeding in them. Any place that catches water or is moist, like a wet kitchen rag or the rug next to the sink, could become a breeding ground for fruit flies. The fruit flies will be attracted to the vinegar, enter through the holes, and become trapped in the dish soap.
If fruit flies are targeting your fruit bowl, move your produce into the crisper drawer. Not only will this keep the fruit flies at bay, but it will also prolong the life of your food. Federal and state fruit fly quarantines do not extend into Tribal lands, but the invasive fruit flies could impact Tribal communities near the quarantine areas. APHIS consulted with Tribes on the five-year strategy in August 2023 and will continue to engage Tribes and solicit feedback on the fruit fly management and outreach strategy. Gnats come in dark shades of gray and black and have long bodies and much longer legs when compared to those of fruit flies.
Fruit flies and gnats are both extremely hard to get rid of. But if you use a multiphase plan of attack, you should be able to spare not only your produce and plants, but any headaches as well. Here's everything you need to know about how to get rid of gnats and fruit flies if you have an infestation. If left untreated, a fruit fly infestation can pose potential health risks.
Pepper Moran is a pest control expert with over five years experience in educating homeowners on affordable and earth-friendly ways to protect their homes from pests. We back up our pest control recommendations with a detailed rating methodology that we use to objectively score each provider. At the very least, avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink for more than a few hours, especially if they have sugary residue.
On top of being very annoying, fruit flies are not hygienic to have buzzing around either. They can contaminate any open food with bacteria and pathogens and will often lay their eggs inside rotten fruit. For this reason alone, you need to control the problem before it becomes an infestation. To capture fruit flies at night, you may want to invest in an insect trap like Katchy. This device has a light that will draw flies toward it in the dark. The bugs are then sucked into the trap by the unit’s fan and get stuck to the sticky paper at the bottom of the trap.
But this simple trick should see the number of fruit flies swarming around your kitchen drop dramatically – with very little effort. This product "guarantees" the elimination of fruit flies, along with cockroaches, spider mites, gnats, mosquitoes, and silverfish. Not far behind is something not so welcome—fruit fly season, which can last through the summer and into early fall.
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