Stupid Fruit Flies

[SablePoint]

I've been having an invasion of these annoying fruit flies in my home lately and I can't stand it! They seem to inhabit my room, the kitchen, and the bathroom the most. Several years ago I had this issue in my room when I didn't notice a sticky stain on the bottom of my trash can. I killed them though and I didn't see anymore. But I've looked up and down my room, under everything, and I see no nest. Luckly, I haven't found any in my closet. There's no nest in the bathroom, and so far from what we investigated, there's no nest in the kitchen.

They love to get on my computer screen and I can never leave a drink in my room without the **** things dropping into it. I have a fly trap in my room(the sticky paper you put on the window) . I've had it up for only a month and it's full of those stupid pests! And they STILL keep coming!

How on earth can I find the nest so I can get rid of them? There's probably 1 in my room and in the kitchen since that's where we find them the most. That's so gross to think about! I need to get them out NOW cause fall is coming and that's when spiders start invading homes, and having fruit flies in my house is nothing but a feast for them. They'll be all over the place and I'm petrified of spiders!

Thanks for any advice.

Regards,

SablePoint

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

The only way to get rid of fruit flies is to get rid of the food source. I'm not sure about flies having nests, but if you don't find and remove the food source then even if they do have nests, removing it likely won't solve the problem. If you can't immediately see the food source that keeps them breeding and coming back, then you might have to take a more drastic step and clean out the whole room/kitchen. Maybe there's an old kitchen towel with food on it, or an item of clothing with food on it. Or there could be a it of food stuck in a nook or cranny that has gone un-noticed.

But they will definitely keep coming back until they have either eaten whatever it is that's bringing them back, or you do a big clean up (including washing clothes in case there's food on them) of the areas that they are attracted to.

 

[Watermelons]

We usually get them in our place when we forget to take out the compost and its warm, or if weve re-potted plants.... I have never been able to re-pot plants without the soil blossoming with fruitflys a month or 2 after.

So long as theirs food for them, and medium for them to nest and lay their eggs in, they will never leave. So check your plants, your couboards, garbage cans, that wrapper that fell behind the table last month, it doesnt take much. But it usually requires something to bring the origional colony into the home (like potting soil... grrr)

I usually just spray my plant down with soapy water to kill the current bugs in the soil, but it doesnt kill the eggs, so they keep coming back, at least its only 1 basil plant this year i made this stupid mistake with, dont know how soapy water will help in your situation tho... Best of luck! Time to adopt some Dart Frogs or something to snack on those rotten bugs.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

In addition to what the others said, try pouring some apple cider or balsamic vinegar into a glass and stir in a drop or two of dish soap. The fruit flies will be drawn to the vinegar and the soap will reduce the surface tension so they'll drown when they land in it. We had a fruit fly problem last summer and this helped a lot.

 

[degrassi]

Yes, definitely check any plants in the house. Also make sure to keep any food or fruit sealed up or in the fridge. Finding the food source/breeding medium is the only way to get rid of them. Catching them doesn't really do anything as there will always be more to replace them until you find the source.

They also have a breeding cycle of 10days, so if they are in a plant or something you will need to spray it, then spray it again around 10 days later.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

It's true that the vinegar thing won't get rid of their food source, but it will significantly cut back on the number of fruit flies buzzing around while you find the food source or after you've removed the food source and keeps you from finding billions of dead fruit flies everywhere when they die on their own.

 

[BrittanyandFruFru]

they love water, that is why the go to places like bathrooms and kitchen.

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

Got to clean everything up with no food sitting out or nothing damp.

A fruity wine is also great. We had some in here not long ago, and I didnt have a cheap wine but one smernof left, and I pourd some into a shot glass type glass.... They LOVE the fruitiness and can't handle their alcohol and fall in and it gets rid of alot of them fast.