It’s the summer season! Time for lots of fresh fruits, ice-cold lemonades, and of course, pesky fruit flies. The very last thing you want is the bothersome insects swarming right in front of your face especially preparing supper or hosting guests for a weekend get-together.
Fruit flies multiply quickly, producing hundreds of eggs in a short period of time on wet foods such as overripe fruit and vegetables. These eggs then develop into larvae, or maggots, within 24 to 30 hours and feed on the food supply on which they were placed. These larvae mature into sexually active adults in about a week and begin the reproduction cycle again in no more than two days, leaving you with much more countless fruit flies to handle.
Causes of Fruit Fly Infestation
You need to know the primary cause of the fruit flies’ invasion of your home in order to solve the issue. Typically, fruits and vegetables bought at the grocery shop or farmer’s market are the sources of these annoying tiny pests entering your home. Although thoroughly washing vegetables might generally get rid of adult flies, it can be difficult to determine whether they have already set eggs in your food. And they are more than willing to create a home if they discover a sufficient source of food in your kitchen.
Once inside your home, fruit flies will look for ripe produce to deposit their eggs on as well as other decomposing stuff like rubbish. Fruit fly larvae normally hatch in a day or two and eat ripe fruits over the next week. They will become fully grown mature fruit flies in about a week, at which point they will deposit their eggs. It might be difficult to get rid of fruit flies because of their quick life cycle.
Is It Really a Fruit Fly?
It’s possible that the gnats you notice flying about aren’t even fruit flies. Fruit flies are tiny, brown insects with red eyes, however, they can be mistaken for drain flies or fungus gnats.
Given that this is where they deposit their eggs, fungus gnats are typically observed wandering around the soil of indoor plants. They are black in color. On the other hand, drain flies have bigger V-shaped wings and are frequently seen near sink drains or garbage disposals; they resemble small moths. To stop fungus gnats or drain flies from laying eggs, you’ll need to wipe up their separate nesting areas, but the same kinds of traps frequently work on these insects as well.
Fruit Flies Pose Health Risks
According to research, fruit flies may spread diseases from an unclean surface to a clean one. They can be carrying germs like salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. Each of these three bacteria causes food poisoning. Severe instances may require hospitalization and may be dangerous to your life.
Steps to Getting Rid of Fruit Flies
Begin by thoroughly cleaning your kitchen.
Throwing away any over-ripe or rotten food on your kitchen counter is the first step in trying to get rid of fruit flies since they may have placed their eggs on these kinds of food. Any fresh produce you take home should be washed properly and kept in the refrigerator until the pests are eliminated.
You should also take the garbage out more often since fruit flies could breed in your trash can, especially if it contains decaying food. Additionally, you should run hot water through your garbage disposal after grinding a few ice cubes to loosen any food particles that may be lodged within. Keep your kitchen as clean as you can for at least a week to stop female fruit flies from laying new eggs. Regularly wash down countertops to make sure the flies don’t find any food leftovers.
Catch flies using apple cider vinegar.
Fruit flies may be prevented from reproducing by cleaning your kitchen, but you’ll probably also wish to get rid of the insects that are buzzing around your house. One of the easiest methods to achieve this is using a DIY fruit fly trap which you can create from pantry goods. You can just wait until they die off, however, they can survive for two weeks or more.
Add a few drops of dish soap to a small bowl of apple cider vinegar (ACV). Because it smells like rotting fruit, apple cider vinegar repels fruit flies better than white vinegar. Red wine vinegar would also work but is typically more costly than apple cider vinegar. To make the vinegar smell stronger, microwave the solution for about 20 seconds. After that, put the bowl somewhere where there are lots of flies. The aroma will entice the insects, and since the dish soap lowers the liquid’s surface tension, they will become trapped and drown. Within a few hours, you’ll start to notice progress. When the solution begins to get filled with dead flies, dump it and refill it.
Use a bottle to trap the flies.
Another classic do-it-yourself solution is to catch the flies in a bottle; a bottle of beer, wine, or fruit juice, that has all of the liquid removed works well. Put a rubber band and plastic sheet over the bottle’s opening, then poke several tiny holes in the top. The flies will go inside after being drawn by the pleasant aroma of fermenting grapes, become trapped, and finally die.
Purchase a ready-made fruit fly trap.
You may purchase fruit fly traps online or even from home improvement shops if you don’t want to utilize a vinegar trap or another do-it-yourself alternative. Just place the trap in the problem area then replace it when necessary.
Can You Get Rid of Flies in 5 Minutes?
It would be great if you could get rid of fruit flies in a matter of minutes, but sadly, clearing an infestation will require more time. Utilizing a fly swatter having a fine-mesh surface or even spraying them with isopropyl alcohol will kill the flies you can see. However, you should also clean the kitchen and get rid of any overripe produce where the bugs might lay their eggs as a long-term remedy.
How to Prevent Future Fly Infestation
Avoid fruit flies by carefully inspecting the product you purchase to ensure there are no nicks or cracks where they could be hiding. As soon as you bring unrefrigerated vegetables home, wash and dry them to eliminate any eggs that may have surfaced. Make sure to regularly wipe up spills, take away the trash, and clean the sink drain since fruit flies deposit their eggs on anything sweet or fermented.
