If you’ve seen small flies or gnats inside your kitchen, be assured that they’re fruit flies.
Fruit flies are especially attracted to ripened fruits, food items, and colorful vegetables. But that isn’t only a bad thing. These fruit flies breed in drains, garbage disposal, trash cans, and moist areas.
They are more prevalent during late summer and fall when fruits and vegetables get ripened quickly. If you’ve recently brought tomatoes, melons, squash, bananas, and grapes inside your kitchen from the grocery store and haven’t kept it inside the fridge, chances are it will start to rot soon. With the rotting fruits, the fruit fly infestation will soon become a reality.
Did you know female fruit flies and gnats can lay about 500 eggs at a time, and the eggs hatch in as little as 24 hours?
If you have left away the food item to rot in the kitchen, chances are it has already been claimed by hundreds of fruit fly larvae. The longer you wait, the quicker they’ll complete their life cycle. Here is how you can avoid fruit fly infestation.
How to get rid of fruit flies in Kitchen?
Here are some Do-It-Yourself homemade traps to get rid of fruit fly from your kitchen.
Use Apple Cider Vinegar and plastic wrap
Preparing DIY fruit fly traps using apple cider vinegar and plastic wrap is fairly easy.
- For this DIY fruit fly trap, pour a small amount of apple cider vinegar into a glass or a mason jar. You can also use an empty bottle. Remember, you needn’t fill the glass or bottle with apple cider vinegar.
- Next, cover the opening in plastic wrap and secure it with a rubber band. Then, poke a few small holes for the fruit fly to enter. The scent and color of apple cider vinegar will attract the flies to enter the tiny hole. Once they’re inside, they won’t be able to exit because of the small opening.
- To better your chance at capturing these small pests, make several of these traps and place them around your kitchen. Don’t forget to properly dispose of these in the trash cans.
Using A Paper Cone, Vinegar, and Old Fruit
Prepare a vinegar trap using a paper cone, vinegar, and old fruit.
- Place a little vinegar and a chunk of rotten fruit inside a jar. You can use a slice of ripped mango, apple, grape, melons, or banana as they have a strong stench. Next, roll some paper into a cone and stick it into the jar. Make it shaped like an upside-down funnel. Place the narrow opening down.
- The stench of rotting produce mixed with vinegar will help entice the fruit flies to make a contact with the mixture. Because of the upside-down cone, the fruit flies will have a hard time escaping the trap. Dispose of the food residue inside the trash cans.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Dish Soap
A combination of apple cider vinegar and dish soap trap works best to get rid of fruit flies.
- Fill a bowl with the apple cider vinegar and add a three drop of dish soap or similar content. Mix the solution well. The apple cider vinegar tempts the flies with its stale sweetness, and the dish soap actually works to decrease the surface tension of the liquid. Once the fly land on the solution, they’ll have a hard time escaping it.
Old Wine or Beer
Old wine or beer works just like vinegar. Fruit flies love the smell of wine or stale beer. Leave out an open bottle with a little leftover liquid. The flies will definitely try to get into the bottle to taste the liquid. Add a couple of drops of dish soap to trap the flies inside the bottle.
Try a store-brought repellant
You can find third-party fruit fly traps or repellents at home depot. Most of these repellants are non-harmful to humans. However, do check the contents before buying it.
You can spray the repellant around your kitchen, which works as sticky flypaper or plastic traps.
How to Prevent Fruit Flies from entering your kitchen?
Fruit flies can easily enter your home with inadequate screened windows and doors. However, you can’t shut all the doors and windows at all times to keep the flies away. You’d have to look for different preventive measures.
The best way to avoid fruit flies is to eliminate food sources of attraction. The ripened part of the fruit cracked or damaged portions, and open wounds are a few of the major attractions for the fruit flies.
- Throw out overripe fruit, decaying fruit, food particles, food scraps, and infested produce to avoid fruit fly problems.
- Store fruits and veggies in the fridge
- Wash produce as soon as you get home to remove any potential eggs or larvae
- Take out the trash bags regularly. Use a recycling bin to recycle organic residues instead.
- Clean up spills ASAP, especially fruit juice or alcohol
- Fruit flies hate clean surfaces, so keep your kitchen countertops as clean and dry as possible.
- Keep the garbage can enclose at all times. Don’t forget to throw the chocolate and chips wrapper inside the garbage can.
- People who produce their own fruits and vegetables or make wine and beer at home should ensure to keep the containers sealed. Dispose of all the residue of the fruit and peels after you’re done with it. It’s easy for drain flies to trace the source from a garbage can to your kitchen.
- Fit your windows and door with tight-fitting (16 mesh) screens to prevent adult fruit flies from entering your home.