What helps against annoying fruit flies / fruit flies?

Characteristics

• small, yellow insects
• usually occur in droves
• only short lifespan, but rapid growth rate
• can be found on fermenting foods
• not only fruit is affected
• are often taken home from the fruit stand
• feed on yeast or bacteria
• lay up to 400 eggs in rotten fruit
• after a week the larvae are ready-made flies
• after a day of life they lay new eggs

Definition of fruit flies

Fruit or fruit flies are insects that are mainly found in rotting and fermenting foods, on which they feed, but in which they also lay their up to 400 eggs. The larvae hatch from these eggs after just one day, and they also feed on the rotten areas in the fruit for a few days before they pupate. This pupation time in turn takes a maximum of a week until the flies hatch. Since these can lay up to 400 eggs again after just one day, it only takes a few weeks for a fruit fly plague to develop. Therefore, when only one fruit fly is sighted, action should be taken and, in addition to being caught, the cause should also be found and remedied. You can recognize the small, annoying nuisances by that they are light in color and usually buzz around fruit, vegetables, a glass with sweet liquid, for example lemonade or wine, and try to sit down on them. They are about the size of mosquitos, but overall they are stockier.

Tip: In the event of an infestation, several different agents and traps should ideally be used at the same time and in different places in the apartment. This increases the certainty that all fruit flies will also be caught or destroyed.

Find the cause

If there are several fruit flies in the apartment, then in addition to combating them, above all the cause should be found and remedied. Because if this is not recognized, the flies can continue to multiply unhindered, unfortunately just setting up traps is not enough here. Therefore, the cause of the presence of the fruit flies in the apartment or in the cellar must be investigated:

• Thoroughly examine the fruit basket
• several of the flies are sitting here, throwing away the fruit
• Set aside fruits and fruits that are not damaged
• then wash well and consume quickly
• Discard any fruit that is even slightly damaged
• use sealable plastic bags for this
• Put it in the garbage can directly from the apartment
• set up traps for the remaining fruit flies
• Also clean the fruit basket well
• If possible, put in the dishwasher
• otherwise wash with hot, running water and washing-up liquid

Tip: When combating the cause, you must proceed particularly thoroughly and carefully so that no more fruit flies, eggs or larvae remain. Otherwise the cycle starts all over again and only a single fruit fly can trigger the next plague due to its rapid reproduction.

Prevent

The best remedy against fruit flies is still prevention, so that no infestation can occur in the first place. Therefore, a settlement of fruit flies in the kitchen, dining room or cellar should be avoided as follows:

• When buying fruit, look for fresh fruit
• do not choose any fruit that is already cracked or rotten
• in this way eggs that have already been laid can find their way into your own home
• eat the fruit as fresh as possible
• do without long storage times
• Room temperature in particular shortens the lifespan of fruit
• if stored for a longer period, it is better to keep them in a cool place
• Do not store empty beer or wine bottles in the kitchen
• Always close empty beverage bottles with screw caps
• Fruit flies are also attracted by the leftover drinks
• Store potatoes and onions in the cellar
• make sure that there is good air circulation
• Fruit flies also attack rotten potatoes and onions
• Gutters are always infested with old leaves
• The fruit flies feel at home here too
• Quickly harvest several fruit trees near windows or doors
• The fruit flies also like windfalls
• You can quickly get back into the apartment from the garden
• they can also be a nuisance on the terrace
• for example with coffee and cake

Tip: If a compost heap has been or is being created in the garden, it should not be near the house, because the pests feel at home here too. But especially when such a compost heap or organic waste is near a window or door, the fruit flies quickly get into the house.

Fight

In addition to eliminating the cause, the fruit flies must also be fought at the same time, because not all of the infected fruit are found. In search of more food, the annoying pests are usually everywhere in the apartment. If these are not caught or otherwise combated, they can lay new eggs again and the cycle is started again. In a household without children and pets, insect spray can also be used in the event of a very large infestation. However, since this should not be inhaled by humans, it is actually only recommended in an extreme emergency. In addition to setting up traps, however, the following home remedies and methods of combating fruit flies have also proven effective:

• Fly killers from the trade
• these are plugged into a socket
• the fruit flies are attracted to the UV light
• If they fly towards the destroyer, they will be killed by electricity
• Use the vacuum cleaner to suck up all visible animals
• succeeds especially with those who sit by the window
• the sucking process also kills them at the same time
• they cannot continue to live in the dust bag
• they also do not get out of the vacuum cleaner again

Tip: If a room has already been successfully cleared of the pests, then all windows and especially the doors inside the apartment should be locked so that no fruit flies from the other rooms can get lost here again.

Traps against fruit flies

The traps against fruit flies can be bought ready-made in stores, but you can also make them yourself in a few simple steps. The main disadvantage of the ready-made traps is that they are mostly filled with chemical substances and not with natural agents. Not only is this harmful to the fruit flies, but it can also be dangerous to children or pets living in the household due to the toxicity. It is therefore better to use home remedies that can be quickly mixed. Traps, for example funnel traps, are also available in stores that still have to be filled. These are small plastic containers that the fruit flies cannot find their way out of once they have flown in. But even such traps can be built by yourself without much effort. There are two different types of traps. On the one hand there is the live trap that the fruit flies can get into, and on the other hand the trap in which the animals drown as soon as they land there. The following traps can be used as natural attractants for the annoying flies:

• Use a glass or bowl
• fill with liquid
• in this the flies drown
• Fill the finished trap with a mixture of detergent and vinegar
• add sweet liquid to encourage the flies
• use cola, soda, juice or alternatively sugar water
• Wine or beer can also be used
• always add a drop of detergent
• this removes the surface tension
• only in this way can the light animals sink in and drown
• Make a live trap
• use a bottle with a long, narrow neck for this
• alternatively, cover the bowl well with cling film
• Pierce several holes in the tensioned surface
• so the flies are attracted
• crawl in through the small holes or the narrow neck
• however, they can no longer find their way out
• Pour in yeast mixed with sugar water
• or vinegar and sliced, ripe fruit
• for example grapes, bananas
• other seasonal fruits can also be used

Tip: For the traps in which fruits are needed, those from the infested fruit basket can of course also be used that would otherwise be disposed of.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, the annoying fruit flies are faster in the apartment than outside again afterwards. Therefore, the cause must be found and remedied at the same time, as well as the remaining fruit flies are fought with traps or other means. This is the only way to ensure that the plague does not start all over again after a short time. It is important to ensure that the cause is not always to be found in the house, but that the flies can also be found quickly from outside, from the compost, organic waste, a fruit tree with fallen fruit or a rain gutter clogged with leaves through the open window to the inside can get.