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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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
You can usually buy a large plastic bag of "sock" hose much more cheaply (dollar stores, walmart, target, etc.) ... that fit like individual socks because cooler if wearing pant suits. Perfect size for most veggies and fruits! Lots of other uses too (as a heirloom seed collector, crafts, pony tail/hair tie back, etc.!
Tried the vinegar and soap setting them around the house it doesn't Work. Also, house flies are out in forc. Tried strips and home made remedies. Help.
With Fruit flies, start taking out the trash more often and always remove any unrefrigerated, overripe fruit, or rotting vegetables. Locating and eliminating other breeding sites can sometimes be more challenging. Using traps or sprays may provide temporary relief from fruit flies, but eliminating the breeding site (the rotting fruit and garbage) is essential for complete control.
Thank you! I remembered that they were attracted to Apple Cider Vinegar - but must have missed the part about placing plastic wrap with holes on top. Probably explains why the flies had a bit of trouble flying straight after the visit - and also why no flies at all were found dead near the dish before it dried up.
I accidentally discovered a very effective fruit fly trap. I was sipping on a glass of cognac, found myself getting tired, and decided to go to sleep, leaving the half-full glass on my nightstand.
When I awoke, I discovered a half dozen fruit flies floating in the cognac. Well, at least they died happy.
Naturally I removed them with a spoon, and finished the drink later. No sense in wasting fine cognac!
Use a shop vac to vacuum them. Vacuum the infested area two or three times a day, around garbage or compost bins, anywhere they congregate. After a day or two the population will be down to almost zero, or completely eradicated. Using a used wine glass or empty beer can will attract them to a target spot where you can efficiently vaccuum most at one time. The idea is to eliminate one generation before it can breed the next.
I tried all the methods I could to get rid of the Flies but they kept coming. Finally, i saw Hot Shot No Pest Strip-2 at Walmart. On Monday I placed the strip in the kitchen where I had seen most flies. As of Friday The only bug of any kind that I have seen was a common house fly and it was on its back DEAD.
Placing a branch of rosemary (or another strong-smelling herb like sage) on top of the fruit bowl drives them away, then create a trap with an empty Parmesan cheese container. One side has three small holes for shaking out the cheese, the other side is has a larger lid for adding your bait. Place rotting fruit/tomato pieces and beer or vinegar in. Leave the three-holed side open. When cutting fruit, add the small pieces through the larger side of the lid. Every couple of days quickly close the top (there are always a few flies hanging around the holes) and shake vigorously. Every week throw away the contents and start again so you eliminate the larva and eggs inside the container. In a couple of weeks you may find you have no more or just a few flies.
Wonderful tip! Great way to repurpose and continue to reuse the containers too as well as so quick and easy! We live in an area with many types of fruit trees so very prone to fruit flies. Last year my son had an accident trying to poke holes in a metal lid to make a trap so I also love that will be able to avoid injury in the future. Thank you!
