How to get rid of fruit flies in your kitchen

Fruit flies are a nuisance to have in your home as they have a very short lifespan, progressing from egg to adulthood in approximately 8-10 days and reproducing at an incredibly fast rate. They thrive in moist or damp places, making areas of your kitchen the perfect breeding grounds. To fully remove their presence from your home, these pests require patience, persistence and a few tips and tricks from the experts.

Identifying fruit flies

Fruit flies are tiny, measuring in at about 3mm long. Their body is black on top and gray underneath but can appear to be brown or tan, with distinctive red eyes.

What attracts fruit flies?

Fruit flies are attracted to fermenting fruits and vegetables and will swarm around your bin for anything else that is sweet or fermented, including milk bottles, wine bottles and beer cans.

Anything that contains decaying matter in a moist environment, such as drains, mops, sponges and recycling bins, creates the perfect breeding ground for fruit flies. Once fruit flies have found a suitable environment they can lay up to 500 eggs, so it is important that during a fruit fly infestation you are washing all fruit and vegetable produce thoroughly before consumption.

Preventing fruit flies from breeding

In order to eliminate fruit flies from your home it is important to tackle both the food source and breeding grounds and remove the remaining flies from your home before they breed.

To prevent breeding:

• Replace old mop heads, sponges and dishcloths
• Make sure drains are running properly and are clean
• Wash out any recycling, such as glass bottles, cans, or tins
• Store your recycling and general waste cleanly, with no debris or liquids on the outside of your bins
• Store fruit and vegetables in fridges or tightly closed cupboards
• Ensure that you remove rotting organic matter as quickly as possible
• Wash all of your dishes straight away and do not leave dirty dishes sitting out
• Thoroughly clean your kitchen

Tips to get rid of fruit flies

To remove the remaining flies, you can create a bait using red wine, apple cider vinegar, juice or fermenting fruit. Simply place the bait into a container covered with cling film or a plastic wrap and poke a few holes into the cover. The flies will be attracted to the bait and fly through the hole and will either drown or be unable to find their way back out. For quick removals, you can also use an insecticide spray.

Remember: These treatments will have to be used repeatedly, as there may still be eggs present which have not yet hatched. You will need to keep on top of your fly control while any remaining flies go through their life cycle.

Whether for domestic, catering, refuse or professional purposes, Pest Defence can offer expert assistance in removing any pest from your premises. With bountiful experience in removing flies, as well as any other flying nuisances, Pest Defence can not only eradicate your fly problem, we can install preventative measures to ensure that the pests don’t return at a later day. For more information on this, or any of our other services, contact us here today.