How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in Your Home
A swarm of irritating fruit flies can ruin the joy of having fresh fruit in your home. Seriously, they seem to appear out of nowhere, don’t they? So learn the simple tricks on how to get rid of fruit flies in your home.
Fruit flies are small insects that gather around ripening and rotting fruits and vegetables to lay their eggs and find food.
Because they multiply so quickly, it can sometimes seem like these tiny pests are everywhere, hanging around fruit bowls, sink drains, and garbage disposals.
Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs during their life cycle, which lasts roughly a week. Because of this, an infestation can quickly take over your kitchen.
The good news is that you can use several efficient natural methods with things you most likely already own at home to get rid of fruit flies.
And sometimes, you try to smash one of them? Best of luck with it! These small, agonizing bugs appear difficult to eliminate, but there is a way to lure them in and disable them.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies with DIY Fly Traps
This all-natural fruit fly trap is revolutionary. Gather your goods and follow our simple instructions to control the fruit flies in your kitchen.
1. DIY Apple Cider Vinegar Fruit Fly Trap
Begin your fruit fly war by putting enough cider vinegar into the jar to cover the bottom. After that, add a drop of dish soap. This reduces the surface tension of the vinegar, preventing fruit flies from floating on top of it.
Finally, wrap plastic wrap around the jar and poke a few holes in the top. Place the jar near where the fruit flies congregate, and they will be lured to it. They won’t leave once they’re in.
2. Cider Vinegar Trap
Fill a Mason jar or glass halfway with apple cider vinegar. Wrap with plastic wrap and poke a few small holes in the top.
The aroma of apple cider vinegar attracts the flies, not white vinegar. If you don’t have cider vinegar, substitute balsamic or red wine vinegar.
There are simple ways to clean your home that do not require harsh cleaning solutions. Vinegar is one of the simplest methods for keeping your environment fresh.
3. Funnel Trap
In a mason jar, combine a little vinegar, wine, or a small piece of overripe fruit (anything sweet and fermented will do).
Roll a piece of paper into a cone and place it inside the jar. The funnel form makes escape difficult for the flies.
4. Soap Trap
In a broad, shallow basin, mix apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap and leave it out on the counter.
The cider will draw into the bowl the fruit flies, and the soap will break the surface tension, causing them to drown.
5. Bottle Trap
Wrap a nearly drained bottle of beer or wine in plastic wrap and jab a few tiny holes in the top. This functions similarly to the cider vinegar trap.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies Yourself
Using our simple trap will help you eliminate troublesome fruit flies in your kitchen, but what strategies can you use to avoid catching these bugs in the first place?
Olfactory cues could be one of your options. Basil, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender, and clove are all repulsive to fruit flies.
If you’ve ever had a fruit fly problem, consider hanging these fragrant herbs in muslin sacks or tea bags around the house. You might also buy them as essential oils and diffuse them.
Another strategy of elimination is to keep your kitchen clean regularly. After food preparation, prompt and thorough cleaning of counters, tables, small appliances, and dishes will help prevent an infestation.
The kitchen sink and garbage disposal are two critical areas to clean thoroughly. Food particles can become caught in drains. After each usage for food preparation, thoroughly clean and flush drains and disposals.
Why It’s Hard to Get Rid of Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies are primary escape artists. They have a 270-degree field of vision, so they can see what is coming at them from practically any angle.
They can calculate the angle of your strike and plan their escape appropriately. Scientists discovered this by observing a resting fruit fly rearranging its legs when it detects an attack.
Fruit flies, for example, move their middle legs forward, lean back, and lift their legs if their hand is coming from the front, allowing for a quick rearward takeoff.
They can change directions in a hundredth second and accelerate by flapping their wings 200 times per second.
Reasons for Fruit Fly Infestation at Home
Fruit flies are so small that they can easily enter inside your home.
They are drawn to overripe fruit on your counter, damp surfaces, and sink drains where food and residue may have accumulated.
If you have fruit flies, it doesn’t indicate a dirty house, but it does mean you must act quickly.
What to Do if Your Fruit Fly Problem Persists
If your fruit fly control measures have little to no effect, there is either an unidentified fruit fly source or the flies you see are not fruit flies.
Drain flies and fungus gnats might be mistaken for fruit flies, so don’t rule them out if you’re still dealing with a fly problem.
Recall that fruit flies can lay 500 eggs at once (we know it’s horrible). To get rid of them completely, a little patience and time will be needed.
Make sure to clean well and leave your traps out on the counter for a few weeks. To make sure you get rid of all the fruit flies, you may also set up a few traps close to garbage cans or sinks.
Try pouring a mixture of hot water and vinegar down the drain to destroy the flies and their eggs if you believe they have taken up residence in your drain.
Nothing could be worse than entering your kitchen to discover your fruit bowl covered in countless tiny flying insects.
These tiny nuisances are more than just a minor annoyance; each female fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs at once if you don’t know how to get rid of them quickly. Which explains how common they can be.
Any fruit you bring inside may already have one or more eggs on it, waiting to hatch and launch a full-scale invasion. You therefore undoubtedly want to know how to eradicate fruit flies from your home.
