How to get rid of fruit flies: 10 expert hacks for getting rid of fruit flies in your home this season
What’s the fastest way to get rid of fruit flies? Discover the arsenal you have at your disposal and how to stop the problem even preemptively.
No matter where you reside in Britain, fruit flies can propagate at alarming speeds on your kitchen counters or inside your waste bin.
While they can show up at any time of year, they often emerge during Summer and Autumn - due to their attraction to ripe or rotting food.
Disturbingly, an adult female fruit fly can lay 2,000 eggs on any surface that is rotting and moist and have tiny maggots hatching within 30 hours.
Two days later, these pests are fully grown and prepared to mate.
Research demonstrates that fruit flies can transfer germs from dirty surfaces onto clean ones, transferring bacteria such as E.coli, salmonella, and listeria - which pose huge risks of food poisoning which can even result in hospitalisation.
To keep you safe, here are 10 expert-recommended ways to get rid of fruit flies - including preventative strategies so they never appear in your house at all.
Disturbingly, an adult female fruit fly can lay 2,000 eggs on any surface that is rotting and moist and have tiny maggots hatching within 30 hours.
5. Carnivorous Plants (Counteractive)
Famous carnivorous plants, like Venus fly traps, use sweet-smelling sap to lure unsuspecting insects (e.g., fruit flies) into their mouths before digesting them. This plant is a good choice for beginners, but consider other options later on such as sundews, pitcher plants, butterwort and bladderwort.
Photo: markgoddard (Getty Images Signature)
6. Apple Cider Vinegar Trap
An effective way to resolve a fruit fly infestation is to trap them in a container of fluid to drown them, and there are many options for this. Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of fermenting foods (that smell vinegary) so this is effective for luring them in. To trap them, use a tall jar with a funnel made from a sheet of paper or a bottle with a narrow mouth. Then fill the vessel with apple cider vinegar and allow them to trap themselves.
Photo: Dmitrii Ivanov (Getty Images)
7. Use bug spray (but be careful)
Remember that insect sprays will kill the adult insects but will not prevent eggs from hatching. So, if you want to try an inspect spray do so at your own discretion, and remember that they contain poisonous chemicals that could be harmful to yourself, animals or children.
Photo: FotoHelin (FotoHelin Images)
8. Offer an alcoholic beverage
Standard alcoholic drinks like beer or wine can be effective traps against fruit flies. Leave an old bottle of wine or beer out nearby where you’ve spotted fruit flies. From here, the pests will be lured in by the stale beverage which will lead them down the neck of the bottle and eventually trap them (the narrow neck of the bottle acts as a barrier preventing escape.)
Photo: Edward Eyer (Pexels)