Before people knew about evolution and different animals’ life cycles, they assumed certain animals just appeared out of nowhere. Animals like fruit flies, they claimed, simply appeared from thin air. They called this spontaneous generation. If you’ve ever dealt with fruit fly removal, you can understand why. They do seem to come out of nowhere.

Where Do Fruit Flies Come From?

Perhaps this is a way of protecting us from an even worse truth. Fruit flies eat overripe fruit as it starts to ferment. That fermentation process produces a little bit of alcohol. This attracts fruit flies. As they eat the fruit, they lay hundreds of eggs. These eggs hatch into tiny larvae in just a few hours.

This means that when you’ve seen fruit flies and eaten any of the fruit that attracts them, you’ve probably eaten fruit fly eggs before. You may even have eaten fruit fly larvae before. Suddenly fruit fly control sounds a lot more important, doesn’t it?

Fruit Fly Control

Luckily, there are many ways to get rid of fruit flies. Fruit fly pest control starts with the simplest step: don’t let fruit go bad. If you use a juicer, blender, peeler, or anything else to prepare fruit, make sure you don’t let it sit waiting to be washed too long after use. Clean up areas of food prep. If you compost, take it out regularly or keep it in a sealed container. Take your trash out when you put fruit scraps in it, or use lidded trash cans. Clean out your drain trap, take out empty bottles, and ring out rags and mops. These are all easy preventative steps, but there are a few more ways to get rid of fruit flies.

  • For homemade traps, try putting a bit of apple cider vinegar in a small bowl and mix in a few drops of dish soap.
  • Or mash some fruit in a jar and cover the top with plastic wrap. Poke a few very tiny holes in the top. Fruit flies will find their way in easily, but will find it very difficult to get out.
  • Leaving some red wine out in a glass can cause them to dive in and drown. Just remember not to drink it afterward.

Some fairly useful fruit fly traps can be purchased at your local hardware store too. Just keep in mind that any trap works by attracting the fruit flies to a particular place – so don’t set them right next to a bowl of fruit you plan to eat.

For heavier infestations, call a Brevard County pest control service for fruit fly removal.