How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies and Gnats in Your House

Table Of Content

• Buying too much fresh produce
• Drain Flies vs. Fruit Flies: Which Tiny Winged Pest Is Invading Your Home?
• I want to try a chemical remedy. What spray will kill fruit flies?
• How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies That Have Taken Over Your Kitchen
• Can You Use Cinnamon to Kill Ants? Experts Weigh In
• Use an almost-empty bottle of wine with a paper funnel

The fastest way to get rid of fruit flies is to call your local pest control company. If this isn’t an option, remove or seal away produce and garbage and set up one of the DIY fruit fly traps listed above. This is why it’s a good idea to keep your trash cans and compost outside or in the garage, if possible. It would be nice if you could banish fruit flies in just a few minutes, but unfortunately, it will take longer than that to eliminate an infestation.

Buying too much fresh produce

That’s because they’re looking for somewhere suitable to lay eggs. Fruit flies are a common problem in many households, especially in summer. Contrary to what their name suggests, they aren't just attracted to overripe fruit – they're also lured by vegetable scraps, too. They can multiply incredibly fast and are all the more frequent nowadays due to the arrival of compost bins in kitchens. Small pieces of old food can end up inside a sink drain, on the outside of a garbage can, or at the bottom of a fruit bowl, so be sure to examine these spots.

Drain Flies vs. Fruit Flies: Which Tiny Winged Pest Is Invading Your Home?

Don't leave out any cups of water or other liquids either. You want to remove any potential breeding areas, and that can include dirty dishes. Fruit flies are probably some of the most annoying unwanted household pests. They always seem to be around too, no matter the time of year or how clean your home is. They get their name from their obsession with over-ripening or rotting fruit. When they’re not hovering around your fruit bowl, you’ll find them in and around garbage cans.

California agricultural officials trying to rid LA County of invasive fruit fly - KABC-TV

California agricultural officials trying to rid LA County of invasive fruit fly.

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I want to try a chemical remedy. What spray will kill fruit flies?

“For this problem, you can pour hot water down your drain, then cover it and fill it with water as if you were going to wash dishes. Leave the water in the sink overnight to kill the flies by depriving them of oxygen,” she says. Mix equal parts balsamic vinegar and warm water in a glass jar and add a drop of dishwashing liquid. One minute your kitchen is fine and the next, it is overrun with fruit flies. Venus flytraps and other predator plants may not completely solve your housefly problem, but they’ll help you keep flies in check.

How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies That Have Taken Over Your Kitchen

But this simple trick should see the number of fruit flies swarming around your kitchen drop dramatically – with very little effort. If the fruit flies return after your house has been treated, the company may treat your home again for a free or reduced rate. Additionally, if you don’t take measures to eliminate their food sources, they may continue to breed, and you’ll have a recurring problem.

Can You Use Cinnamon to Kill Ants? Experts Weigh In

When the flies can not see in the dark, they will find the only light source in the room will be a candle. Those who might not get burned will fall into the water and die. The fruitflies cannot resist the smell of vinegar and will eventually come to taste it. As soon as the flies touch the surface of the liquid, they won’t be able to hold themselves and drown dead in the solution.

Check your purchases thoroughly

Gnats? Fruit flies? Here's why you have 'em (and how to get them out of your house) - The Citizen

Gnats? Fruit flies? Here's why you have 'em (and how to get them out of your house).

Posted: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Also known as sink flies, sewer gnats or moth flies, these non-biting gnats are light grey or tan, are around 1.5-5mm long, and their wings are feathery-looking. Fruit flies are opportunists and will sniff out any chance to find a suitable feeding (and breeding) ground to thrive in. Are you irritated by an infestation of those pesky flies in your kitchen?

Baited traps are a good way to help catch fruit flies while the breeding sites are being located, Merchant said. If DIY methods fail, a professional will know how to get rid of fruit flies quickly and effectively. We’ve reviewed the nation’s top providers, all of which have locations spread throughout the country. Here are our recommendations based on our research into experience, price, and customer reviews. Fruit fly traps can be constructed with household goods such as staples such as soap and vinegar, and don’t require much construction or DIY know-how.

How to Prevent Fruit Flies and Gnats

“If you have a green thumb,” she says, “bring these fragrant plants into a container garden inside your kitchen.” You’ll tackle your uninvited houseguests and score ingredients for your cooking too. Fruit flies tend to stick around for as long as there are food sources nearby, so like many pests, they’re not likely to go away unless you completely eliminate all of their food. Additionally, after mating, female fruit flies inject batches of eggs into fresh fruit. After mixing your solution, place the container wherever the fruit flies congregate.

Get rid of a fruit fly infestation by changing your home habits and creating or buying fruit fly traps. Eradicate your current infestation and remove any food and breeding grounds for fruit flies from your kitchen counters, trash, and drains. Fruit flies are tiny insects that flock to ripening and rotten fruits and vegetables, both as food sources and places to lay eggs. Sometimes it seems like these tiny pests are everywhere, hovering around garbage disposals, sink drains, and fruit bowls, and that’s largely because they reproduce so quickly. Overripe fruit, rotting food, and fermentation can all cause a fruit fly infestation.

Finally, switch off all the lights, as this method will only work in darkness. By keeping your house clean — especially free from food waste — you can help prevent a housefly infestation. Many natural and other fly repellents can be used outside to keep flies away from your house. You can try planting herbs and flowers such as basil or marigolds around the house, or even plant a few Venus flytraps.

The life cycle of fruit flies is also incredibly quick, and adult fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs at a time. If you give fruit flies the chance to stick around, these eggs will ultimately hatch, and the cycle will continue in your home. If you’re convinced that all washing up liquids are created equal, think again. This hypoallergenic option lifts dried food off effortlessly and removes fatty residue, plus it will leave you with lovely soft hands. Fruit flies have a life cycle of a week or less, so once the breeding sites are removed, flies will disappear relatively quickly.

Try not to overbuy fresh produce that's in danger of languishing in your kitchen. It's the perfect spot for fruit flies to lay their eggs (and for their larvae to feast on). Tossing fruit-fly covered items in the indoor trash just allows them to reproduce in your garbage can instead.

WE ALL love summer - but one aspect we all hate is bugs and flies swarming the home. If you do need or want to use insecticide, pyrethrin-based insecticides are most common for indoor fly infestations. Be sure that you buy an insecticide specifically for indoor use, ventilate the area well, and follow the directions exactly. When a fly gets in the plant’s trap, it closes around the fly. It then secretes digestive fluid to dissolve the insect’s soft insides. It breaks down the insect over 5 to 12 days, then spits out the exoskeleton.

When you have a large housefly infestation, insecticides can be effective because they work quickly. However, they’re not effective in the long term, because flies have short life cycles and will develop resistance. Additionally, the effect of the insecticide goes away quickly. If you keep a fruit bowl on your bench in humid conditions, it will speed up the fruit ripening process making it the perfect paradise for these fruit flies to breed in. So, keep on top of the cleanliness in your kitchen, and make sure you’re removing rotten food (whether that’s on your kitchen counters or in your bins) as soon as possible.