How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies (2024)

FAQs

How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies? ›

Place some bait inside a glass jar —overripe produce, ketchup or a fermented liquid like apple cider vinegar, beer or wine will all work. Then place a funnel over the opening of the jar with the spout pointing down to create a tiny entrance that is easy for the flies to get into but almost impossible for them to exit.

Place some bait inside a glass jar —overripe produce, ketchup or a fermented liquid like apple cider vinegar, beer or wine will all work. Then place a funnel over the opening of the jar with the spout pointing down to create a tiny entrance that is easy for the flies to get into but almost impossible for them to exit.

To create a DIY fruit fly trap, mix a quarter cup of either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar with a few drops of dish soap. The idea is that the irresistible vinegar attracts the fruit flies, while the soap breaks the vinegar's surface tension and drowns them.

Fruit flies can't stand the smell of basil, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender and clove. If you've had a fruit fly problem in the past, try placing these fragrant herbs in muslin sacks or tea bags and hanging them around the house. You could also buy them in essential oil form and use them in a diffuser.

A fruit fly infestation won't just go away on its own—it'll likely only get worse. Even if the adult fruit flies die, you'll continue to get new fruit flies every day unless you cut off the source. If you do nothing, they'll just breed on unnoticed crumbs, spills, and food particles.

It typically takes a few days to a few weeks to get rid of a fruit fly infestation, depending on the severity of the infestation and the effectiveness of your control measures.

Fruit flies are attracted to vinegar, so you can also use this to your advantage. Fill a shallow dish with equal parts vinegar and water, and add a few drops of dish soap.

Combining two tablespoons of dish soap, four tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and six tablespoons of water involves nothing more than a quick stir. After that, we're adding a piece of plastic wrap and securing it with a rubber band. Last step is to poke the wrap a few times with a toothpick.

"Instead of dangerous and toxic pesticide spray, use 91 percent isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle," says Timothy Wong, technical director at MMPC, an environmentally sensitive pest control company. "It is effective at killing the flies on contact and less harmful than conventional pesticide."

In the small, larval stage, fruit flies are susceptible to becoming victims of ant and beetle larvae. One of the most common predators of flies, including fruit flies, is the frog. Although frogs eat a diverse diet, they feed on flies as often as they can. The spider is also a common predator of the fruit fly.

What automatically kills fruit flies? ›

Pour apple cider vinegar (ACV) into a small bowl, then mix in a few drops of dish soap. Apple cider vinegar works better than white vinegar for fruit flies because it smells like fermenting fruit. Red wine vinegar will also work, but it tends to be more expensive than ACV.

2. Use Deterring Scents. Fruit flies hate several rather nice smelling natural scents, including peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and clove.

How can I make sure the fruit flies don't return? To prevent future infestation, be sure keep food storage areas clean and dry. Don't leave out fresh food once it's been opened or after you've taken a bite out of it. Be sure to take out your garbage regularly and clean up any spills inside or on your trash bins.

For fast knockdown and killing flies, but no residual control, some aerosol fly sprays are available which contain synergized pyrethrins, tetramethrin or resmethrin (also called SBP-1382). These are appropriate for fast results and safe application around people, pets and food before or during picnics and outings.

Fruit flies often come in to your home through cracks in walls, loose seals around doors or windows, or via eggs laid inside of a piece of produce from the grocery store. Fruit flies can seem to come from out of nowhere to infest your home, but this is mainly due to how quickly fruit flies breed and develop.

You likely have fruit flies because you have a lot of exposed food in an area. This is particularly true if you have fruit lying out in the open. They're attracted to rotten and fermented fruits and vegetables as well as: Wine.

Vinegar and Dish Soap - Fill a bowl slightly with apple cider vinegar, wine or honey with some dish soap (washing up liquid). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap with punctured holes or leave uncovered. Flies will be attracted to the smell and will get stuck within the liquid.

From buzzing around sink drains to nesting in your fruit bowl, fruit flies can feel impossible to get rid of. This is largely due to how quickly they multiply—in fact, adult fruit flies can lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time.