How to Get Rid of Gnats or Fruit Flies

We all know how annoying it is to have fruit flies hanging out in our kitchen, so here are a few tips on how you can avoid fruit flies.

Fruit Flies Facts

Did you know that fruit flies are also sometimes called vinegar flies? These fruit flies are commonly found in kitchens, restaurants, homes, and any place food is commonly stored or used. Fruit flies generally are yellowish brown in color and have red eyes. Interestingly, almost 60% of a fruit fly’s brain is dedicated to their vision.

A fruit flies’ life span ranges from 30 days to up to around 3 months. Most often fruit flies lay their eggs in rotting or decaying fruit. It’s important to keep your fruit either in the fridge, freezer, or in a closed container. The most common place people keep fruit is on the kitchen counter. This will allow open access to fruit flies. Keeping your fruit out of reach to fruit flies should be step one for getting rid of fruit flies.

Fruit Fly Pest Control: What to Know

Fruit fly prevention is what we really care about.  Getting rid of fruit flies can be very difficult. Their reproductive cycle is very fast, and even if you kill the adult fruit flies their eggs can still be hatching while you are in the process of getting rid of the mature flies. There are a couple more problem spots beyond leaving fruit outside of your fridge you should look out for. One way is to make sure that any garbage containers you have out have a lid on them. Another common place for fruit flies is in your recycling.

So, where do fruit flies come from? Most people don’t rinse out their cans, bottles, or other containers that had food or drinks in them. Any place with sticky surfaces, from juices, liquors, or food spills creates the perfect food source for fruit flies. This is a common reason why restaurants and bars have trouble getting rid of fruit flies. You should also focus on drains and leaky faucets for a solution for how to get rid of fruit flies. Your kitchen sink could be another location for fruit flies. Sometimes fruit flies can breed and feed on what’s left of the food you put down your sink or garbage disposal.  Make sure these areas stay clean.

A Simple DIY Fruit Fly Trap

Prevention is always the best approach when dealing with fruit flies, but if you’re looking for an effective way to eliminate them, an apple cider vinegar for fruit flies trap is a simple and effective solution. To make one, fill the bottom of a jar with apple cider vinegar, which naturally attracts fruit flies. Add a few drops of dish soap to break the surface tension, preventing the flies from landing safely and causing them to sink and drown. Cover the jar with plastic wrap and poke small holes or use a paper funnel to guide the fruit flies inside, making it difficult for them to escape.

Next you should either cover the jar with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it. This will allow the fruit flies to get in, but they will drown before they can figure out how to get out. Another option to use for this final step for the fruit fly trap could be to make a funnel out of paper and tape it to the sides of the top of the jar. This option creates the same situation as the plastic wrap and creates a way for the fruit flies to get in but they will end up dying before they can figure out how to escape.

Choose Rove for Pest Control for Fruit Flies

This can be an effective method for how to kill fruit flies, unfortunately this doesn’t get to the root of the problem, so your best option for getting rid of fruit flies would be to hire a pest control company such as Rove Pest Control to take care of your fruit fly issue for you.