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Discussion Forum

Fruit Flies?

JDRHI | Posted in General Discussion on October 31, 2006 10:37am

Looking for suggestions.

Don’t ask me how long this has been going on….I don’t even recall anymore….but I’ve got what I’m going to refer to as “fruit flies” in my kitchen, that I can’t seem to get rid of. Whether their is fruit around or not…the “flies” are there. Which is why I’m not convinced they are actually fruit flies.

They seem to hover/live around the sink.

Could they be coming from/nesting in the trap?

Anyone ever seen what I’m describing?

Any suggestions?

Its otherwise, a bug free household.

J. D. Reynolds

Home Improvements

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Replies

  1. drystone | Nov 01, 2006 12:04am | #1

    Once when in Seattle I saw these tiny black flies around the sink, I was told they were fruit flies.  Maybe they like the damp or the waste disposal system down the plughole.

    1. rwjiudice | Nov 01, 2006 12:24am | #2

      Had a similar problem a few weeks ago. Turned out that once I threw out the aging bananas on the counter, they disappeared.

      "Time flies like an arrow,   Fruit flies like a banana"

      Think about it. You'll get it !!!!

    2. User avater
      JDRHI | Nov 01, 2006 04:44am | #7

      You guys are the best!

      Thanks for all the input.

      I've got some reading to do.

      J. D. Reynolds

      Home Improvements

      1. handymanvan | Nov 01, 2006 05:06am | #8

        I kept having these little white moth/fly things in my kitchen. Turned out, I had some birdseed in my storage pantry and these things breed in there forever and are terrible to get rid of, they infest flour, meal and tons of prepackaged food. You just keep killing and spraying for about a year or two before they are gone. DO NOT STORE BIRDSEED IN THE HOUSE!!!!

        1. User avater
          MarkH | Nov 01, 2006 05:08am | #9

          I had those white flies even eat into jello boxes.  What a major pest.

          1. handymanvan | Nov 01, 2006 07:46pm | #17

            Indonesion Moths, they continue, after two years, to still ruin dried food and I do everything I can to kill them. Horrible little pests.

        2. User avater
          JDRHI | Nov 01, 2006 05:38am | #12

          My mother has those "moths". She's knows exactly where they come from....but she just keeps buying the stuff.

          If you have a problem with certain Breaktime members, put them on ignore. Don't go whining to the moderators about it. Grow up already. Buncha Marys.

  2. calvin | Nov 01, 2006 12:26am | #3

    Take a jar, saran wrap, a rubber band and apple cider vinegar and a pc of funky fruit.  Put the vinegar in the jar (couple inches), add the funky fruit.  Cover with the stretched tite saran wrap, secure with a rubber band.  Poke small (pretty darn small)- use a pointed toothpick.  Don't make them the full diameter of the TP.  Sit it on the counter and watch 'em go to there demise.

    Do you have a compost bucket?

    edit:  Fine tuned the concoction after Joyce came home.

    A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    http://www.quittintime.com/

     



    Edited 10/31/2006 6:44 pm ET by calvin

    1. JasonQ | Nov 01, 2006 05:25am | #11

      Another trap method that seems a bit easier (if possibly messier) and works quite nicely is to:

      1. Get a shallow bowl or glass dish.

      2.  Put a single drop of liquid soap in it.

      3.  Fill with red wine and mix.

      4.  Don't leave fruit out in the open. 

      I've got a bit of a plague of these right now, what with all the ripening green tomatoes I picked before 1st frost, and the half-dozen jack-o-lanterns I've got quickly turning to mush.  Thank god they go to the compost in a day or two more...

      Jason

  3. JimB | Nov 01, 2006 12:29am | #4

    They may be "drain flies" which look very similar to fruit flies.  This link has a bit of info--just scroll down the page to the correct section.  http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/Flies015.shtml

  4. User avater
    MarkH | Nov 01, 2006 12:40am | #5

    Cover the drains and put ammonia in them.  Fruit flies seek drains for some weird reason.

  5. DanH | Nov 01, 2006 12:54am | #6

    Could be fruit flies, could be grain weevils, could be several other things.

    Grain weevil:

    http://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/grain_weevil_penny.jpg

    Fruit fly (approx 1/8" long):

    http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/fruitfly1.JPG

    Drain fly (approx 1/8" long):

    http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/drainfly.jpg

    Here's a guide to several bugs:

    http://lancaster.unl.edu/nebline/2001/sep01/page03.pdf

    Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. --Mahatma Gandhi
  6. MikeRyan | Nov 01, 2006 05:10am | #10

    Fill the disposal with ice and run it without water.  It makes a heck of a racket, rattles like the dickens, but knocks a lot of crud loose from the walls of the disposal.  When you have a slushy in the disposal, then run the water.

    I do mine once a month.  No smells or flies for no cost

    1. User avater
      JDRHI | Nov 01, 2006 05:39am | #13

      Thanks for the idea....no disposal though.

      If you have a problem with certain Breaktime members, put them on ignore. Don't go whining to the moderators about it. Grow up already. Buncha Marys.

      1. weav | Nov 01, 2006 02:05pm | #15

        Personally, I've always wondered who tells the fruit flies that there is an old banana in my house,and how far they have to come to get to my place. kellyw

  7. jerseyjeff | Nov 01, 2006 01:20pm | #14

    During college I took a genetics class,  and we had to breed fruit flies.  I was extremely carefull about making sure I never took any hitchhikers back to the apartment.   But,  other folks in the lab didnt have the same care,  and some one (accidentally)  dropped there tube of flies.  I didnt think anything of it until later that evening when I saw three flies together in my apartment.   

    Had it been one I would have been ok  (50-50 chance that it was male and not going to lay eggs)

    Two  well this would have made me nervous  25% chance of both being male,  50% chance of a couple,  25% all female

    But three,  that is a losing proposition,   just a hair over 10% chance that they are all male.  

    (my genetics class had lots of probablility)

    I Cursed and tried to kill them but,  no luck....

    One week later we had swarms...

    Our first step was to leave out a few open longneck beers...  the flies would go in and then die,  but we still where not killing as many as where breeding,  so we where losing. 

    Finally we opened the windows (in January)  and lived in a 30-40 degree apartment for two days and the little buggers all died off real quick.  

    There is no fun solution

     

    1. sharpblade | Nov 01, 2006 02:53pm | #16

      funny story jeff.

    2. RippySkippy | Nov 02, 2006 01:32pm | #20

      >>>>and we had to breed fruit flies.<<<<I thought they did that by themselves, had to be an odd sight.budump-ching...sorry I couldn't resist.

      1. DanH | Nov 02, 2006 02:21pm | #21

        No, you gotta do it like cattle, with the syringe and the long glove.
        Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. --Mahatma Gandhi

      2. jerseyjeff | Nov 06, 2006 01:03am | #22

        first you ether them,  then select only flies possessing the traits you want and put them in a new tube.  way less fun than it sounds.  

         

        1. plantlust | Nov 06, 2006 04:01am | #23

          Fruit flies - ANY kinds of fruit, including alcohol. Solution - get rid of, freeze or enclose in airtight container any type of fruit. Indian meal moths - Pain in the buttocks. They eat anything that is/was a grain, including dogfood, birdseed, flour, those cute hanging ears of corn, CHOCOLATE & I've also noticed wool/cotton. They "drill" their way thru thin plastic bags & cardboard boxes going for cereal and DRIED FRUIT (seem to really like dried currants & cherries but don't go for pears). Solution - get rid of infested material. Wash cupboards/pantries well & freeze or keep flour in a metal/glass container w/a sealed type lid. Don't buy really large quantities of birdseed or dogfood (even if they are on sale) and or store them as above.Drain flies - They live in decomposing stuff in your drain. You can tell the difference between drain flies & fruit flies because drain flies become a poof of dark dust when you squoosh them. Solution - get rid of anything that is clogging the drain (hair, dogfur, etc). Cleaning out the drain occasionally w/a vinegar/baking soda solution will also help (er...the combination sortof explodes so keep that in mind when you try it)Nine days.

  8. RippySkippy | Nov 01, 2006 10:19pm | #18

    In addition to removing the food source, here's a simple trap:
    <http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/images/flies/fruitflytrap.gif>

    Rip

  9. Ragnar17 | Nov 02, 2006 09:34am | #19

    JD,

    I had to laugh when I read your post, because I'm having a fruit fly problem this year, too!

    I've never had a significant problem until this year.  The only working theory I have is that they're coming from the ORGANIC bananas that we've been buying (until recently, we always bought conventionally grown bananas).

    I discovered that they are drawn to rice wine vinegar like a magnet.  I put a little bit in the bottom of a glass and many seem to fall in and drown.   I'll definitely be making the simple traps that others here have shown.

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