Preventing a Fruit Fly Infestation in Your Home
Indoors, a fruit fly infestation can be a truly annoying experience. Here’s how to get rid of fruit flies, including how to make your own fruit fly trap!
Where Do Fruit Flies Come From?
Reach for a peach, and what happens? A squadron of fruit flies takes to the air above the fruit bowl! But where the heck did they come from?
They probably didn’t come from your grocery store produce. They tend to wander into your home from the outside when they catch the scent of fruit that’s ripening, especially if it is starting to get a bit overripe. (In fact, fruit flies actually prefer wine and beer to fruit because they like food that has fermented.)
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What Are Fruit Flies?
The tiny, yellowish, red-eyed insects are part of a large family of small flies that has about 3,000 species. Unlike houseflies, which may spread disease, fruit flies are harmless. They can live and breed in drains and garbage cans, and on damp mops and rags. Spilled juice under the refrigerator or a rotten potato at the bottom of a bin can be a happy home for the fruit fly’s larvae.
Fruit flies lay their eggs near the surface of your ripe fruit—and they can lay up to 500 eggs at a time! About 30 hours later, tiny larvae emerge and feed on the fruit, eventually turning into pupae. A week later, they are ready to take to the air.
Luckily for us, the entire lifespan of a fruit fly is only about two weeks. However, researchers have discovered that drinking a fermented beverage will enable a fruit fly to live a day or two longer—and a day or two is quite a bit when your life is only two weeks in total!
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
Eliminate Fruit Fly Breeding Grounds
The key to preventing fruit flies is to not attract them in the first place, so keeping your kitchen and dining area clean and free of potential fruit fly breeding grounds will go a long way in stopping an infestation before it begins. Here are some tips:
- Refrigerate or throw away ripened or damaged fruit instead of leaving it out where the fruit flies can access it. Check it regularly for blemishes or rot, too.
- Make sure you take out the garbage regularly, and consider putting a secure-fitting lid on your trash can.
- Completely clean up any spilled fruit juice, beer, or wine, and don’t leave half-empty drinks out.
- Be sure to clean your drains regularly, as flies can live there if grime builds up. Use these tips for clearing drains.
Build Fruit Fly Traps
You can buy fruit fly traps or make your own, and either way, they should be effective. One of the most common traps is the cider vinegar trap:
- Fill several glasses or jars with apple cider vinegar (or old beer) to about 1/2 full. The flies will be attracted to the smell of the fermented liquids.
- Add a drop of liquid dish soap to each glass and mix gently with a spoon. This breaks the surface tension of the liquid, making it so the flies can’t just float on the surface.
- Put plastic wrap on top of each glass so that it is tight, and hold the plastic wrap in place with a rubber band.
- Punch about ten holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick, and put the glasses in an area frequented by fruit flies. Make sure the holes are wide enough for the flies to crawl through. They’ll be enticed by the smell, crawl in, and drown in the mixture.
- Tip: No plastic wrap or aluminum foil on hand? Take several pieces of paper and roll them into funnels (taping the sides of each funnel so they don’t unravel), then place a funnel into each glass. Flies will be able to get in, but not out.
Learn More
See more tips on managing other insects and pests.
Have you ever gotten fruit flies? Share your solutions in the comments below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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I have used the cider vinegar method for several years and its usually worked well, even without the plastic covering. But I have also found that when I have anything that attracts them (banana peels, apple cores or overripe fruits, etc.) I use saved plastic bags the produce came in, to seal them up before tossing in the garbage.
Place corks (yes, from wine bottles) in the bowl with your fruit… you will not see any fruit flies! I do this all summer with the bowls of tomatoes that come from our garden. Have not seen a fruit fly in years!
Sprigs of Rosemary or Sage laid over a bowl of fruit/tomatoes chases away fruit flies. A plastic grated Parmesan cheese jar is perfect as a fly-catcher. There are two openings. One with three holes, leave that open. And one with a large opening to put remnants of ripe tomatoes or bananas or whatever you use to attract them. Close the three-hole side and shake every couple of days. Toss contents and refill when necessary.
Another effective way to get rid of them is to get a jar, like this says, and pour in karo syrup (about a third karo). Cut up a hot dog and put a few small chunks in the karo. Poke small holes in the lid of the jar or saran paper. The flies get in the jar and stick to the hotdog pillars bc of the karo.
I will warn you. This is extremely effective and you'll have a layer of fly bodies. It's a bit dark if you watch it.
I was having fruit fly infestations; I traced the source of flies to my sink + dishrack/ esp. under my dishrack; if any water goes around the sink/dishwashing area; the fruit flies can breed; esp. under damp dish mats; I began keeping my sink/dish area very dry; fruit flies gone~
I had a jug of sweet tea that I was going to throw out cuz it was old, but I noticed my garrison of fruit flies were very attracted to it ....so I took a sticky fly strip and set it so if they try to fly into the jug o tea...they get stuck. If they manage to get in...when they go to get out they get stuck...I cannot for the life of me find where they are coming from...I've put soapy boiling water down my drains .. no effect...I clean my trash cans regularly and if they get full before I can take em out or if I notice fruit flies around em I'll put a trash bag over the top of the can and tie it so they cannot get out..usually only do this when getting to the dumpster is difficult, like it's storming or something.....I'm about to resort to the most lethal toxic death spray I can find.
If you work outside a lot and have a knat problem you know how annoying they are,
I've found smoke helps the best I've even used those little metal tea dunkers and put cotton balls in them lit them and blew them out and the smoke for a little while and it really helps, and another thing that helps is Rosemary oil I've tried many but rosemary works the best for me I put a little on the brim of my hat some around my ears and neck, when it's real bad it only works for about half an hour, but it really does help.
I've used this trap with red wine vinegar and added a small chunk of overripe banana to the mix. It took about a week, but the traps eliminated all the fruit flies in the house!
Use spray mixing Menthol with water
We put pantyhose on our squash and other veggies that get stung and that protects them. I’ve ordered mesh bags from amazon since we don’t have a lot of pantyhose anymore. For years I had a collection box in the office for the ladies to put their runs in - got a lot of strange comments on that practice! Retired now
