You’ll find fruit flies in the air at almost any time of year. Wizzie Brown, an insect specialist with the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Office, says they’re attracted by rotting vegetation – inside and outside your home.
On how they reproduce:
They can lay up to 500 eggs – each fly. And it only take about a week for them to go from egg to adult.
On avoiding fruit flies:
A lot of times when I go to the grocery store, [I] eyeball the fruits and vegetable section closely to see where I see the fruit flies. And if I see any, I decide to go get something else.
On stopping an infestation in your home:
If they happen to be in vegetation that you’re growing outside; they can come indoors from that way and start an infestation. The most important thing other than avoiding them in the first place is locating the source of where the larvae are, and then either getting rid of it by disposing of something, or cleaning something up in the case of a spilled item or organic matter that has built up in an area – especially garbage disposals… The other huge one for fruit flies is going to be recycling areas. That also includes not only the recyclables, but also cleaning your recycle bin on occasion.
On how to trap adult flies:
You will create a little cone-like funnel out of a piece of paper, and then… you can set that into a cup of some sort, and then put a little bit of cider vinegar into that.
