A swarm of tiny flying insects hovering around your fruit bowl or garbage can is annoying and gross. Luckily, fruit flies don’t pose much of a threat to humans, but you still probably want to get rid of them.
To get rid of fruit flies, make a trap that lures them in with bait, but doesn’t let them escape. Trapping the fruit flies you see is only part of the solution, because if their eggs hatch you will have another swarm in a few days. Consequently, stop the fruit fly eggs from hatching by getting rid of rotten produce and cleaning anywhere else that there might be eggs.
You can conquer a fruit fly infestation on your own. To learn more about getting rid of fruit flies, read the rest of this article with my best tips from years of experience helping people eliminate them.
You might also be interested in reading these two related articles “How to Get Rid Of Mosquitoes” and “How To Get Rid Of Houseflies“.
What are Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies are tiny flying insects, about one-tenth to one-fifth of an inch long with red eyes, a pale tan front body and a black back body. They most often appear during summer and early fall near ripe fruit or other food but can be seen any time of year.
Their size and tremendous sense of smell make them difficult to stop from getting into your home if you have something they want. They can smell rotting fruit from outside your home and make their way in through minuscule holes, even through screens.
Each female can lay up to 500 eggs on rotting fruit, which nourishes the hatchlings in their first few days of life. Fruit flies don’t actually eat the fruit they are so associated with, they eat the fungus that decomposes the fruit.
How did Fruit Flies Get Into My House?
Unfortunately, even an impeccably clean home can have a fruit fly infestation. They most likely got into your house by hitchhiking in on some produce from the store.
Fruit flies are most abundant during the harvest season. Moreover, if you have a fruit tree in your garden or have taken home a box of fruit from the farmer’s market, you are more likely to see fruit flies in your home.
What is the Lifespan of Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies live up to fifty days, but their lives could be as short as two weeks. About two days after birth, fruit flies start reproducing. A female fruit fly can lay up to 2,000 eggs during her life.
Their short lifespan and high reproductive capacity make them difficult to get rid of once they have established themselves in your home. You must eliminate all sources of food, water and shelter if you hope to banish these tiny insects.
Getting Rid Of Fruit Flies
There are many ways to get rid of fruit flies, but remember that eliminating the adults doesn’t stop their eggs from hatching. The following methods for getting rid of fruit flies will help you minimize the number of flies in your home, but they are not a cure for the problem.
Make Your Own Fruit Fly Trap
You can make an extremely effective fruit fly trap with simple household items. The things you need to make this trap include:
- A Half Cup Of Apple Cider Vinegar
- A Few Drops Of Dish Soap
- Jar, Cup or Bowl
- Plastic Wrap
To make the trap:
- Combine the dish soap and apple cider vinegar in the container.
- Next, cover the top with the plastic wrap.
- Puncture small holes in the wrap with a thumb tack or fork.
- Finally, leave the trap where you have seen fruit flies and let it work.
The apple cider vinegar gives off the same smell as rotting fruit, and the fruit flies will enter the small holes to investigate it. They won’t have such an easy time getting out of the little holes, though. The fruit flies will eventually fall into the soap and vinegar and won’t be able to fly anymore because of the soap coating their wings.
Tip: Make sure all of the fruit flies are dead inside the trap before you open it to throw them away, or wrap the entire trap in a plastic bag before tossing it out.
How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies Without Apple Cider Vinegar
If you don’t keep apple cider vinegar around the house, you can make a two-liter bottle trap that works with many types of bait. For this trap, you can use almost any sweet or rotting food, such as:
- Rotting fruit
- Rotting vegetables
- Red wine or balsamic vinegar
- Wine or beer
- Soda
- Sugar water
- Honey
- Syrup
- Jam
To make the trap, cut off the top third of a two-liter bottle, in other words, cut it about where the label starts. Place the bait in the bottom of the bottle, then take the cap off the bottle and put the neck down into the bottom two-thirds of the bottle. Seal the top to the bottom of the bottle with some tape.
Next, put the baited trap in a place where you have seen fruit flies. They will fly in to have a snack, then when they try to fly out, they will go to the highest point of the trap, but there is no opening there, and they will not be able to figure out how to escape.
A Half Sip Of Wine To Trap Fruit Flies
For you wine drinkers, one of the easiest fruit fly traps is keeping a half sip of wine at the bottom of your bottle. Leave the bottle out on the corner overnight.
The fruit flies will enter the bottle to drink the wine, but nothing will stop them from getting out. When you are ready to stop trapping flies, cork the bottle to trap any living fruit flies. If you don’t close the bottle right away, some or all of the fruit flies inside will escape and continue causing you problems.
Homemade Spray To Kill Fruit Flies
If your goal is to kill just a few fruit flies, a homemade spray can be effective. This method would be tedious for a large swarm of fruit flies though. The steps to create your own fruit fly killing spray are:
- Mix one part water, one part white vinegar and several drops of liquid dish soap in a spray bottle.
- Spray the fruit flies you see flying around or the places they land.
- Clean up the dead fruit flies. Some of them might only be stunned, and you will need to squish them.
This spray is safe for pets and houseplants. Keep the spray away from marble surfaces because the acid in the vinegar could etch it.
Does Bleach Kill Fruit Flies?
Almost anything will die if you put enough bleach on it, including fruit flies. Because bleach is a powerful chemical, it should be used with precaution. Therefore, it might not be wise to spray bleach around indiscriminately to kill fruit flies.
Bleach is an excellent choice for killing fruit fly eggs if you can find them. One spot to try cleaning with bleach with the hopes of killing fruit fly eggs is your drains. Fruit flies like to lay their eggs in the scum that builds up around drains, and cleaning them with bleach will kill any eggs there.
Do Commercial Fruit Fly Traps Work?
If you don’t feel like making your own fruit fly trap, there are many you can buy at a store. Most of these commercial traps work well, but often they don’t meet people’s expectations of solving their fruit fly problem.
All fruit fly traps are only part of the solution. You, or a pest control expert, need to figure out where the fruit flies breed and eliminate their food sources to banish them from your house.
Fruit Fly Prevention
Sadly, you may never be able to stop fruit flies from entering your home. But, if you act fast, you can prevent an intrusion from becoming an infestation.
Fruit flies often arrive with fruit. Therefore, if you see them around some fruit, get it out of your house and clean up any juices.
Cleaning up rotten fruit fast is the best method to prevent fruit flies. Some other fruit fly preventative measures you can take are:
- Use a tight-fitting lid on your garbage can (especially for your food waste bin).
- Wash your recycling before putting it in the recycle bin.
- Clean after every meal.
- Don’t leave dirty plates on the counter or in the sink.
- Store produce in the refrigerator or a sealed container.
- Fix leaking water pipes and drains.
- Clean your garbage bins and sinks regularly.
What Causes Lots Of Fruit Flies?
If you suddenly notice a swarm of fruit flies, it probably came from bringing in produce that already had eggs or maggots inside. After two days or less, those immature fruit flies turn into adults and hover around your house.
The best way to prevent a sudden swarm of fruit flies is to inspect all produce you bring into your home for signs of rot. Unfortunately, sometimes you get unlucky, and a bunch of fruit flies sneak in and take over your home.