How to get rid of fruit flies and other common pests
Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
- If you awaken one morning to find a cloud of tiny flying insects swarming around your fruit bowl, chances are, you've got an infestation of fruit flies.
- These small flying pests are a species of housefly that is strongly attracted to ripening or decaying fruit.
- Luckily, it's generally not difficult to get rid of fruit flies, and there's no need for potentially toxic chemicals to do so.
- Here's how to deal with these pests, as well as two similar flying insects: fungus gnats and drain flies.
At one point or another, pretty much everyone will need to deal with fruit flies. My own turn came when I left a peach ripening a little too long in the fruit bowl, only to walk into the kitchen and discover a cloud of little flying pests hovering over the bowl and crawling all over the fruit I'd been planning on enjoying with my lunch.
Since then, I've been careful to toss fruit that's past its prime, although in my fruit-intensive household, most produce is consumed before that occurs.
You can literally leave a pest-free kitchen in the morning, and come home in the afternoon to find a cloud of fruit flies partying in your fruit bowl. These tiny insects are powerfully drawn to the scent of decaying fruit and are small enough to slip right through your window screen or any tiny cracks around the windows or doors. You might also unknowingly bring fruit flies home with your produce from the farmers market or supermarket.
Once they gain access to your kitchen, the flies feast on overripe fruit. Of course, dining is not all these pests have on their minds. They're also doing the nasty in your fruit bowl. Afterward, the female pierces the skin of the fruit to lay up to 500 eggs beneath it.
The eggs hatch in as little as 24 hours, and the fruit provides food for the larvae. A few days later, the larvae pupate for a few days before emerging in their adult form. Within two days, the adults are ready for some lovin' in your kitchen, and the cycle repeats. With an average lifespan of 40 to 50 days, that's a whole lot of fruit flies.
Now that you know where fruit flies come from, we'll break down how to get rid of them and how to get rid of other kitchen pests that are often mistaken for fruit flies.