Fruit flies

[HOGEPH]

Have an infestation in a kitchen. Tried fruit fly traps, vinegar in jars, hoovering up the buggers, but they still reappear.

Everything in the kitchen is in a sealed container. And the kitchen has been wiped down top to bottom.

Can't work out where they are coming from. Everytime I open one of the cupboards, a new wave appears. Maybe I'll need to take the units down to see what's behind them?

Any advice appreciated.

[ramblo93]

We've been getting loads around our little compost bin (a metal bowl with a n old saucepan lid on top) we keep on the worktop near the bin over the last month or so.

I made a fruit fly trap out of a jam jar with a few 4mm sized holes punched in the top. Baited it with a few bits of old fruit from said compost bin (banana, apply, grapes) and an inch of old fizzy drink fromthe fridge left over from a party.

The trap seems to attract them over the compost bin so the problem has gone away.

If all you food is sealed then maybe you have an infestation somewhere cause by a rogue banana or similar?

[Dont like rolls]

Any plants in the room ?

I have found supermarket herb pots are often infested with a type of tiny fly. A mild soap mix sprayed on for a couple of days gets rid.

[eldar]

Sure they are fruit flies?

[DodgeRam Van Man]

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana

[HOGEPH]

eldar said:

Sure they are fruit flies?

Very small, black, lots of them.

[FourWheelDrift]

DodgeRam Van Man said:

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana

I've seen a horse fly, I've seen a dragon fly, I've even seen a house fly.

[eldar]

HOGEPH said:

Very small, black, lots of them.

Small bowl with a little vinegar, sugar and washing up liquid should attract and drown them. Otherwise, fly spray.

[Oakey]

We have these but only ever see one at a time. You kill it and before long another has taken its place.

I read somewhere that some of these sort of flies like to live in the sludge that accumulates in the over spill of sinks

[bristolbaron]

We had hundreds in the summer, I could squash ten against the window and 5 minutes later there’d be another 10.
We put a cider vinegar/washing up liquid mix in dishes by each window and would get around 50 per day, but there was still constantly more. Our kitchen was like an operating theatre but no amount of cleaning made a difference.
The weather seems to have helped, I’ve only seen one or two a week more recently. Plug holes are apparently the main breeding ground and worth keeping on top of.

[James-k8r82]

I think they can live in the topsoil of houseplants too

[Etretat]

Can you take the kickboards off and have a look underneath, especially where the sink/washing machine/ dishwasher drain away?
It could be that you have a leak there and that they are not fruit flies but are filter flies

[V40TC]

Previously a bunch of long forgotten bananas in a cupboard were finally located
= no more fruit flies

[Turn7]

FourWheelDrift said:

DodgeRam Van Man said:

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana

I've seen a horse fly, I've seen a dragon fly, I've even seen a house fly.

But I aint never seen a Elephant fly......

[Dont like rolls]

Turn7 said:

But I aint never seen a Elephant fly......

That is because they hide in cherry trees when they see you.