How to Get rid of Fruits Flies From your home? 3 New Simple Steps

The bad news: midges in the kitchen can multiply to several hundred within a week. The good news: Drosophila, also called a fruit flies or a fruit gnats, is the most harmless species-they don't bite, don't carry the disease, and can be easily eliminated at home. So where do these little pesky pests come from in the kitchen? There are only three possible answers: they came from the street to the smell of some stale fragrant or spoiled product. Gnat eggs came into your kitchen with the fruit or vegetables you bought. They got into the soil of houseplants because of over-logging water stood on a balcony street, near an open window. If you notice the insects are swirling in the flowerpots, it can be the same "fruit" or flower flies (sciarids). How to distinguish between them? Flower flies look more like black mosquitoes, while fruit flies look like little flies. You can see the difference in the photo below. If you realized that it is the fruit flies in the flowerpots in the kitchen, this article is for you, 

Since fruit flies are not only flying adults but also voracious larvae and eggs, the fight against them must be a comprehensive. 

Read about how to get rid of fruit flies from your home kitchen in our step-by-step instructions.

                Fruit Flies                                Flower Flies

How to get rid of fruit flies (fruit) midge Step 1. 

Find and eliminate the source of the midge To get rid of the eggs, you need to find the source of reproduction and sustenance of flies, and then close it in a bag and immediately remove it from the house. Fruit flies lay eggs in fruits and vegetables, but not only that! Any place that has food and moisture can attract insects. If you can't find the source, look for it in non-obvious places.

Here are some search tips:

If you keep compost in the kitchen for houseplants, it's worth taking a closer look. When was the last time you cleaned your trash can? Even if you routinely throw away a bag of garbage, the bin itself can be a source of problems. Vinegar, beer and wine also attract insects. Think about it, maybe you have an open bottle of smelly liquid lying around somewhere. Mushrooms, cereals, and cheeses are far from fruits and vegetables, but even these are not unfriendly to midges. A clogged kitchen sink is another potential breeding ground for insects. Look for stale, damp sponges, rags, or mops. Sometimes sweet liquid dripping into the base of a cabinet, kitchen drawer, under the refrigerator or other places can cause the gnats. 

Step 2: Hide and Cover all Foods

 Now you should hide all the food in the kitchen to deprive the fruit flies of food and places to breed. Hide fruits, vegetables, jams, sweets and other gnat treats in the refrigerator or in tightly sealed containers. Do not leave ripe fruit outside the refrigerator until you solve the problem. 

Theoretically, this measure may be enough to kill the midges, but it will take from 10 days (during the warm season) and up to 2.5 months during the winter. Therefore, to get rid of midges in the kitchen quickly, you need to set traps.

Step 3: Setting Traps

Traps with funnels and baits is a simple traditional method that works 100%. The principle is simple - it lured the flies into a container with a small hole by the smell of the bait, and they cannot fly back out. Leaving such a trap in the kitchen during the evening and in the morning, you will find a whole swarm of insects inside it.

 How to make a trap:

• Take a glass jar, vase or any other container with high walls and put / pour bait on its bottom, for example:
• Berries or a slice of fruit, such as a pear or banana.

• A couple of tablespoons of jam.

• A little apple cider vinegar
•  Roll an A4 sheet or any other paper into a cone, secure the tip with tape and cut it if necessary, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar. By the way, it will make the most effective trap from yellow or orange paper, which will seem like citrus to midges - the safest delicacy from their wasp-riding enemies.

• After a few hours, pour a warm soap solution into the jar (without removing the funnel!) to drown the trapped insects. Keep the solution in the jar for a couple of minutes and then pour out the contents. If you cannot catch all the Drosophila in one go, repeat the procedure until the trap is empty. In addition, we recommend repeating the procedure after 8-10 days after a positive result, as a "new generation" of midges may grow from the eggs left somewhere. In the photo below you can see other types of traps with the same principle. As you see, a kitchen funnel or food film pierced with a toothpick can be used instead of a paper funnel (a plastic bag will also do).

• Place one or two of these traps in high-risk areas, such as near a sink, trash can, flower pot, if fruit flies are there. 
• After a few hours, pour warm soapy water into the jar (without removing the funnel!) to drown the trapped insects. Keep the solution in the jar for a couple of minutes, and then pour the contents.
•  If you cannot catch all the fruit flies at once, repeat the procedure until the trap is empty. In addition, we recommend repeating the procedure 8-10 days after a positive result, because a “new generation” of midges can grow from the remaining eggs somewhere. 

The photo below shows other types of traps with the same principle of operation. As you can see, instead of a paper funnel, you can use a kitchen funnel or cling film pierced with a toothpick (a plastic bag will do). 

By the way, both it can make the jar and the funnel from a plastic bottle. To do this, it must be cut into two parts, so that the part with the neck is shorter, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar with the neck down and, for reliability, fasten the trap with tape as shown in the photo below.

And a little about prevention:

•  Note the following tips to prevent the recurrence of fruit flies in the kitchen:
•  Keep your food covered, or better, in the refrigerator.
•  Try to throw out the garbage every day, especially if you throw bones and cores of fruits or vegetables there. Also, do not forget to wash the garbage can itself once a week, and in the summer even 2 times a week.
• Get rid of other potential breeding grounds for Drosophila in a timely manner. Old sponges, rags, damp mops, and any other items you use to clean can contain midge eggs. Throw them away or wash them in the washing machine on a hot cycle. 
• Clean the sink drain regularly.

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Other methods 

Ethyl alcohol 70 or 90% will help to quickly kill midges. To do this, you need to pour it into a spray bottle and sprinkle it directly on flying flies. Adult fruit flies will instantly fall to the floor and all you have to do is sweep the floor. This method is suitable because alcohol is a safer “insecticide” than special products, and besides, it can kill eggs.

 And what if the midges in the kitchen wound up in the sink? You can check whether it is a spawning ground for a fruit fly like this: glue a piece of cling film coated with a thin layer of honey to the drain, and then return to the sink after an hour. If you see fruit flies stuck in honey, then your washing is part of the problem. To fix it, make sure the drain works properly, and then pour boiling soapy water into it. Lastly, use the brush to scrub the sides of the drain.