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When you see small flies or midges in the kitchen, they are likely to be fruit flies. These tiny pests can be a problem at any time of the year, but they are especially common in late summer and fall because they are attracted to ripe, damaged or fermenting fruits and vegetables.
Identification and life cycle
How can you say that the boring little flies in your house are fruit flies? Good question, because other insects, like midges, have a common appearance, size and pest of indoor plants. But if you look closely – using a magnifier if necessary – fruit flies have red eyes. A very obvious red color, not just a little brownish red. So, if the bugs that bother you inside the house do not have red eyes, these are probably not fruit flies.
Adult flies are about 1/8 of an inch long and have a brownish body.
Females lay eggs on overripe or damaged fruit. After hatching, the tiny fly-like larvae feed near the surface of the fermenting food. The complete life cycle, from egg to adult, can take completely in just one week, so that growth of fruit fly populations can quickly reach an upsetting level.
Where do they come from?
You can bring flies into the house without realizing it. In the winter, they can be found at the grocery store on bananas, potatoes, onions and other products too ripe or damaged and brought home with your weekly purchases.
In summer, fruit fly larvae hitchhike in the house with fruits and vegetables from the garden. In addition, adult fruit flies are small enough to cross mosquito nets or spaces along the edges of exterior doors if they detect a food source inside.
Fruit flies feed in empty bottles or cans containing liquid – beer, wine or soda – in the bottom. Drains, waste disposal, mops and cleaning rags are also potential sites.
Control
No insecticide is needed to eliminate fruit flies; the key is the location and elimination of breeding sites. Start by getting rid of all food sources such as over-ripe products. Put all remaining fresh fruits and vegetables in closed containers or lockable plastic bags if they should be left at room temperature or refrigerated. Be sure to carefully check onions and potatoes – they are often overlooked, but a rotting potato is an excellent food source for fruit flies.
Wipe counters to remove any remaining sugar, and do not let unwashed dishes sit in the sink until the fly problem is gone. Rinse bottles and cans for your recycling bin and often take your recycling to the outside instead of leaving it at home. Clean garbage cans and recycling containers as needed to eliminate fruit fly feeding sites. Finally, clean the garbage disposal of your kitchen to eliminate any piece of food it might contain.
Fruit fly trap
Once the food sources are eliminated, it can run out a few weeks before all the remaining flies die of a natural death. To speed up the process, try to make a fly trap. This trap is simple to create, inexpensive and effective at attracting and killing adult flies.
Choose a small container: a juice glass, a baby pot, a bottle of pop, a cup of yogurt or an old jar of jelly work well. Pour about an inch of apple cider vinegar into the container, add a drop of dish soap and stir the mixture. You can create a paper funnel and glue it to the top of the container or cover the top of the container with plastic wrap and drill a few holes with a toothpick.
Adult flies are particularly attracted by the scent of apple cider vinegar and make their way into the funnel or into the holes of the plastic wrap. Once inside the pot, they will not find their way. They will eventually drown in vinegar. Dish Soap acts as a surfactant, reducing the water tension on the surface of the vinegar, allowing the flies to sink into the liquid after landing.
More information from Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Entomologist
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