US-based Rupa tells us about fruit flies that emerge during the summer season, in that country. She tells us how to get rod of these pests. A Different Truths exclusive.

When bright colorful fruits and vegetables enter our kitchens and taste buds are triggered through the visuals that excite the eye, at the prospect of whetting our taste buds. Summer warmth brings with it fruity sweet smells, and with it enter dreaded fruit flies by the dozen multiplying faster than we realize we are under a nightmarish onslaught.

Mere regular items of everyday consumption at home, lay out a welcome carpet for these pests that cannot wait to make themselves right at home.

Unwelcome fruit flies use their enhanced sense of smell to guide them to the ripe fruit inside our homes. They can come in from outside or be brought in grocery bags with our produce.

Unwelcome fruit flies use their enhanced sense of smell to guide them to the ripe fruit inside our homes. They can come in from outside or be brought in grocery bags with our produce. They are in the fruit bowl where a fruit is overripe starting to go bad. As it begins to ferment, producing alcohol, they attract the disgusting pest. They continue to gobble up the fermenting fruit, and in the process, lay hundreds of eggs. Eggs may be on the skin of fruit which hatch into larvae in mere hours and Lo & behold- in no time the lush fruit in the fancy bowl hosts a new generation of fruit flies.

Since it’s close to impossible for fruit fly eggs to be visible it is very likely we have accidentally ingested a few each time we bite into a yummy ripe fruit! Ensure it is washed well to eliminate or minimize this risk.

Why are they swarming the space in warmer seasons and not in colder days?

It is because they undergo their form of hibernation freezing the species until it warms up for them to get active and feed again. Process is called Dispause.

Fruit flies are a smaller version of fly we love to hate, which are brown and have red eyes.

Fruit flies lack the ability to bite anything, let alone a human unlike equally annoying gnats some of which can bite. Gnats appear like a shrunken mosquito and are smaller. Fruit flies are a smaller version of fly we love to hate, which are brown and have red eyes.

Are you frustrated to find them in your bathroom? Search for attractants like any debris in the sink or shower drain. If you notice fruit flies in your drain, they could be sewer gnats.

How do we prepare to prevent unwelcome fruit flies from finding their way into our space? We need to cut them off from their food source and also eliminate reasons they arrive, stay, mate, reproduce and multiply.

How do we prepare to prevent unwelcome fruit flies from finding their way into our space? We need to cut them off from their food source and also eliminate reasons they arrive, stay, mate, reproduce and multiply. Simple do’s include:

• Throwing away overripe fruits or vegetables.
• Refrigerating produce
• Washing produce at earliest possible to rid of eggs or larvae.
• Throwing out garbage daily

After we have tried these steps and are yet unable to prevent the annoying visitor, let us learn the detailed do’s to get rid of them short and long term. Make fly traps at home that are effective.

After we have tried these steps and are yet unable to prevent the annoying visitor, let us learn the detailed do’s to get rid of them short and long term. Make fly traps at home that are effective. I have firsthand tested successfully and recommended the same to others who vouch by these tricks and traps:

1. Apple cider vinegar and dish soap combo by sinks and garbage
2. Stale wine next to the infested area is a FF-magnet
3. Banana mushed up works great in a container with a plastic wrap on top poked with tiny holes
4. Carnivorous plants help-talk to a nursery
5. Damp clothes, cloths need to be dry
6. Ripe or fermenting produce to be kept in fridge only, cold kills them
7. Damp and water filled dishes are attractive to them, clean and dry them.
8. Drains are their haven, pour baking soda and vinegar to kill them as they breed there
9. Steam; boiling water, bleach in the drains kills their eggs, breaking reproductive cycle.
10. Bleach disinfects too, pour it down the drain and follow it with water in a few minutes
11. Use a bleach/water mix
12. Pour boiling water 2 times weekly down the drain
13. Pour 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar down the drain and allow to sit overnight. Follow with a pot of boiling water in the morning.
14. Basil, Peppermint, and Eucalyptus: are herbs that deter these flies. Pack in muslin sacks, or tea bags to hang around the house
15. Camphor, Lavender, Clove, Lemongrass from your kitchen deter fruit flies.

For those who may like some science on the lifespan of a fruit fly, here goes-

fruit fly can live for 6 weeks. After mating a cluster of eggs are laid and larvae hatch that feed on overripe organic mass (of our fruits and veggies) and then as pupae they hide away from our vision in dark cracks and crevices. One week later our friendly fruit flies with wings and 6 legs make us feel unfriendly and our summer gets swatting!!

Here is to an FF free summer!

Photos from the Internet