Controlling Fruit Flies

If you have been seeing small flies or gnats in your kitchen or supermarket, especially around the fruit and vegetable areas, they're probably fruit flies. Fruit flies are a problem all the year round, especially now that we have supermarkets and centrally heated homes both of which allow the fly to breed 12 months of the year.

Pete Jameson of Dynamic Pest Control has been in the pest control industry for over 20 years and is an expert in fruit fly prevention. "One of the main issues with fruit flies, and why they are so frustrating to treat, is that quite often it is tricky to find the source of the problem." Fortunately, there are measures that the homeowner can take to discourage these tiny insects.

"What they are attracted to is any kind of ripe or overripe fruit or vegetable. This would include bananas, peaches, pineapple, grapes, tomatoes, potatoes... They're also strongly attracted to beer, especially stale beer, wine, cider or vinegar, anything that ferments. The larvae actually feed on the yeast in the fermenting material," Pete says.

"If you recycle or have empty beer cans, get those things out of the house. Make sure you clean out the rubbish bins. Try to make sure fruit is bagged up or kept in the refrigerator. Any kind of fruit, anything like that, keep it in the fridge, keep it bagged up, and if it's overripe, get rid of it."

Fruit flies can also be attracted to light. "Some people can get relief by putting a fan in the room because they can't fly strongly. It helps disturb them by preventing them from laying eggs and can help reduce moisture."

Most over-the-counter flying insect sprays will work. You have to make sure you check the label, make sure it's appropriate indoors and follow the label instructions, Pete said. Typically any flying insect spray will knock them down.

However, with this approach alone "you're only going to kill the exposed flying adults. Unless you find the source you're going to continue to have the problem." The key to total eradication of the fruit fly is to locate and eliminate all potential breeding grounds. Unless the breeding sites are removed or cleaned, the problem will continue no matter how often insecticides are applied to control the adults.

Finding the source(s) of attraction and breeding can be very challenging and often will require much thought and persistence. To ensure success, you may wish to consider hiring a professional pest control company as this may be cheaper in the long run, and will certainly ensure that your problem is dealt with in the least possible time.

After the source of attraction and breeding is eliminated, a pyrethrum-based, aerosol insecticide should be used to kill any remaining adult flies in the area. In addition, bait stations, which nowadays are quite inocuous, can actually be placed in say a display of produce even in a supermarket.

Article provided by Dynamic Pest Control