How to get rid of fruit flies and why they are so hard to kill

Here is a transcript of the video.

Narrator: It's like they had magic powers. When the weather warms up, fruit flies appear. Out of nowhere. Beside the bowl of fruit, near the basket, everywhere. And once they arrive, they are determined to stay no matter how many people are crushed, crushed, or seized. As far as we know, fruit flies can not teleport to us in another coarser dimension. So where do they come from and why are they so difficult to eliminate?

Meet Drosophila melanogaster: your standard fruit fly. He can smell a meal more than a kilometer away thanks to the tiny antennas on his head. These antennas are specially designed to detect chemicals such as acetic acid released by rotten fruits. Once they are captivated by the scent, it's almost impossible to stop them from entering your home. Indeed, fruit flies are about the size of a sesame seed, so they can pass through almost any cracks, screens or openings. But contrary to popular belief, it's not just the fragrant fruit they are looking for. They are also looking for the source of this rotten stench, especially fungi and other microorganisms. Yum!

And once they land for the feast, things get complicated again. Do you know how you never see a fruit fly? This is because they have incredibly fast life cycles. A single female fruit fly can lay up to 100 eggs a day, which hatch in less than 24 hours. The maggots then dig a tunnel under the skin of the fruit, feeding on microbial rot. A few days later, they turn into fruit flies in their own right. At the 11th or 12th day, they are ready to have their own little trick. Aww. That's why your home can go from fruit fly to infested in less than two weeks.

Now, at this point, you could start reducing them one by one. But it is not so easy, right? Maybe even … fruitless? Scientists have discovered why. It turns out that fruit flies are mathematics magicians of escape. For starters, they have a vision of about 270 degrees, so they can see you coming from almost any angle: front, back or side by side, and they will actually calculate the angle of your attack and plan their escape accordingly 100 milliseconds. Scientists understood this because of how a fruit fly at rest would reposition its paws when it felt an attack. If your hand comes from the front, for example, fruit flies move their middle legs forward, lean back and lift their legs, allowing a quick takeoff to the front. back.

Once in the air, killing them is not much easier. They can change direction in one hundredth of a second and accelerate quickly by flapping their wings 200 times a second. Not bad for a brain even smaller than that of a house fly. So, how do you get rid of it? Some experts suggest to make a trap. Fill a container with 2 centimeters of apple cider vinegar, close it with a funnel, and then glue adhesive paper around the perimeter so that no fly can escape. You see, fruit flies are smart enough to find fruit but not the hole they entered.

But here is the thing. Even if you catch one last fly, they will come back as long as there is something to eat. And unfortunately for you, fruit flies are not difficult. They love rotten fruit, but wine and other fermented liquids, which are full of microbes they love, are also tasty, just like the slime accumulated in the sink of your kitchen. So, really, the only thing you can do to get rid of it is, well, clean up.