Drosophila fly: how to get rid of annoying helpers

In an apartment, regardless of the time of year, annoying flies may appear, which curl in flocks in a certain place. Drosophila flies are a species of fruit midges belonging to the Diptera family. The genus Drosophila includes about 1500 species. Their name speaks for itself - rotten fruits are the main source of food for fruit flies and their breeding ground. The appearance of these annoying insects in the house is an unpleasant sight. But there are many ways to get rid of fruit flies in a short time.

Fly traps

The industry today offers special traps. It is very easy to use them. All detailed information is written on the package.
The only thing that can be added is the need to put such a structure away from drafts. Otherwise, the drug will quickly disappear.

Someone catches fruit flies with a vacuum cleaner, others run around with a newspaper. Why are these difficulties? Drosophila is very primitive in terms of intelligence. They themselves fly to alluring smells. The basis of self-made traps is almost always a plastic bag, jar, bottle, plastic container. You need to put one of the baits on the bottom:

• darkened banana
• wet rotted potato
• a slice of kombucha
• apple slice, pear
• watermelon, tangerine, melon wedge

A cling film is placed on top of the container. For reliability, it is fixed with an elastic band or tape. Several small holes are made in the film with a thick needle. Now all this must be placed near the habitat of fruit flies. In the morning, you will be very convinced by the number of insects that have flown in to feast on.

Some sources recommend throwing the container in the trash along with the insects. A bag or a plastic cup, please. But you can't get enough glass jars. The solution is very simple. The entire structure is placed in the freezer for 10 minutes. And then they simply shake out the dead fruit flies. The jar is used many times. Only periodically change the bait to a new one.

Another version of the traps offers a slightly different design. One of the liquids is poured into the bottom of the bottle or can:

• kvass
• beer
• the juice
• compote or old jam
• tea mushroom
• a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water, and liquid soap

The neck is closed with a paper funnel, but a small hole is left. The midges will surely fly to the smell, but they will not be able to get out.

Disposing of insects is very simple. They, together with the liquid, must be poured into the toilet. Or in a tight bag, and then throw it away.

Advice. Most berries, fruits and vegetables, and sugary drinks can be used for traps. It is desirable that they have already begun to deteriorate or ferment.

Fruit flies adhere remarkably to classic fly tape with a sticky layer. It should be placed where the most insects are observed. After heavy contamination by dead midges, the tape is changed to a new one.

An electric mosquito repellent lantern has proven itself well. It is placed next to the bait. Subsequently, it will only be necessary to periodically shake out the dead insects.

What is the difference between the fruit fly

This insect has a number of other names, such as vinegar or wine fly. Firstly, this insect is tiny in size, with a body length of no more than 3 mm.Secondly, they move in extremely numerous flocks, at an enviable speed. Because of this, they bother a person.

Fruit flies prefer to feed on rotten fruits, berries and vegetables, as well as other food waste that is not of the first freshness. They are especially attracted by their wine smell, or rather products that are in fermentation conditions. Wine fly larvae also feed on tiny microorganisms.

These ubiquitous insects are difficult to confuse with other insects due to their characteristic movement and diet. If some very small insects are swarming over the rotten foodstuffs, then these are most likely Drosophila flies. It is almost impossible to meet lonely flying creatures. If somewhere a fruit fly was seen, then you can be sure that in a couple of minutes there will be so many of them that it is impossible to count.

Prevention of the appearance of fruit midges

To prevent a whole swarm of annoying midges from appearing in the apartment, you need to make it as unattractive as possible for insects as a breeding ground. The following measures will help in this:

• Destruction of the food supply. The trash bin must be tightly covered with a lid and taken out in a timely manner. Any fruit that has begun to deteriorate should be thrown away without any mercy - or the spoiled parts should be removed. Also, preventive measures include timely cleaning of products from the table, proper storage of flour and cereals (closed containers, timely disposal of spoiled products, etc.).
• Elimination of water sources. Like other harmful insects, fruit flies need a source of moisture. In its capacity, a leaking tap, a dripping pipe joint, and even a constantly damp cleaning rag are suitable. Remove all sources of fluid and your home will become much less attractive to gnats.
• Maintaining hygiene rules. Fruits and berries brought into the house must be rinsed before storage in order to remove insect eggs from them. Then the fruits are dried and placed in plastic bags. In addition, important preventive measures are wet cleaning, garbage removal, and timely dishwashing.
• Blocking access from the street. All opening windows are covered with a mosquito net. Also, mesh screens are placed on ventilation vents.

Compliance with these rules will help keep your home safe from the fruit fly entering your home. If an infection is nevertheless detected, urgent measures must be taken: find a place where flies are displayed (usually a jar of cereals, a bag of rotten fruit or a flower pot) and carefully dispose of spoiled food along with flies.

Prevention is the best remedy

Let us tell you a terrible secret. Drosophila grows where sloppy owners live. Sour food in pet bowls, leftover food or drinks on the table, rotting or spoiled fruits, vegetables, berries. All this is a provoking factor for the appearance of flies in the apartment. They fly on similar smells from the street. By the way, the mosquito netting on the windows is not at all an obstacle for the penetration of small reptiles. They quietly crawl through the cells.

What should be done to prevent fruit flies from getting in the house? Clean up:

• Take out the trash can in a timely manner.
• Do not leave food or drinks on the table.
• Throw away leftovers from pet bowls and wash them thoroughly every day.
• Store fruits, vegetables and berries in the refrigerator.
• Do not breed dampness under the sink and bathtub.
• Go through the vegetables stored in the cupboards often. Discard spoiled ones immediately.

After all, even a piece of fruit lying under the table can be a decent bait for midges from the street. A person will not notice, but he will definitely find an insect. Or a wet tea bag. Or potato skin. It can be listed for a long time. But the point comes down to one thing: clean the apartment and especially the kitchen. Then the flies will not appear at all.

Where flies lay their eggs

The fly instinctively takes care of the offspring, choosing the right place to lay eggs. It should be a rotting semi-liquid substance away from sunlight and potential enemies. The larvae do not have to look for food and hide - they live and develop in the same place where they emerged from eggs.

The organs of smell direct the fly to the laying sites - special antennas on the head (three-membered antennae). Then the female probes the substrate with her proboscis - she tastes it for consistency and taste.

After making sure that the place is suitable, the insect removes a narrow tube (ovipositor) from the end of the abdomen and begins the process of laying.

Where flies lay their eggs:

• manure heaps;
• any corpses;
• cesspools and cesspools;
• dried fish, meat;
• rotten vegetables, fruits.

The fly lays its eggs in old purulent wounds on the body of living animals and birds. In some cases, masonry is found even in damp laundry. When put on the body, the worm can crawl into the urethra, causing urogenital myiasis (inflammation of the urethra)

The larvae of common flies deposited in the external environment are harmless to humans. The danger is that if you swallow them with food, intestinal myiasis (inflammation of the intestines caused by the introduction of a worm into its wall) will develop. In all other cases, fly larvae may even be useful.

How to get rid of small midges in an apartment, and where do they come from

To get rid of this misfortune, first of all you need to find out from where

all the same, these uninvited annoyances appear.

Small midges in the kitchen

Most often, the inhabitants of our kitchens are fruit flies, the same ones that can be found on the pages of school textbooks on genetics. It was on them that biologists studied the laws of inheritance. Some of them have red eyes, others are black, some are thicker, others are thinner, they differ in the structure of the wings, but the mistresses are not up to genetics. Regardless of the color of the eyes, they reach the same way.

Drosophila infiltrates our kitchens most often with fruits, on which these little nerds lay their eggs. The worms hatched from them are so small that a person who does not have perfect vision may simply not see them.

This is not a reason to refuse such a useful product as fruits. No worries. These creatures will not appear in your stomach, because the hydrochloric acid present in the gastric juice kills them immediately and reliably.

Midges in indoor flowers

There is another type of small flies that are found not only in the kitchen, but also in all rooms where indoor flowers grow. These are soil inhabitants - sciarids. Most often, the reason for their appearance is the tea leaves, which many people fertilize with their home green friends. These pesky creatures grow in moist soil.

Preventive measures

If you adhere to basic rules, then this will help you completely forget what these annoying insects look like. The appearance of insects in the apartment is a signal to reconsider some habits and start tidying up the house. Therefore:

• Dishes should be washed immediately after eating and should not be allowed to accumulate in the sink.
• Clean the trash can regularly and in a timely manner, especially during the warmer months.
• Regularly wash and dry rags in the kitchen and bathroom.
• Do not store vegetables, berries and fruits outside the refrigerator.
• Water the plants only when needed.
• If the plants are fertilized with tea leaves, then it is necessary to clean up the remains of it regularly and not bring it to the point that it starts to rot.
• Dishes for cats and dogs should be kept as clean as their trays.
• If Drosophila flies have appeared in the dwelling, then the fight against them should not be postponed until later, since they multiply quickly enough if conditions favor this.

Order in the house, cleanliness is a guarantee that such insects will never be interested in a person's home. Conversely, a mess in the house is the conditions that attract not only fruit flies, but also other, more dangerous pests.

How to get rid of midges

Fruit flies, although not harmful, make the kitchen unkempt. They tightly cover the plate of fruit, and from where they fly up and fall into the eyes and nose. They appear imperceptibly, and the number grows instantly. Despite the large number, it is not difficult to get rid of fruit flies. Sometimes it is enough just to put things in order, and the insects quickly disappear.

There is no need to rush to resort to the services of professional exterminators. Using toxic aerosols is unsafe and the gnats will multiply quickly again. The active reproduction of wine gnats is entirely the merit of the residents.

The larvae of fruit flies inevitably come to visit everyone, but not all apartments choose for life. If you are thinking about how to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment, first of all, inspect the room for cleanliness and order. You just need to remove food from the flies - and they will very quickly leave your kitchen on their own.

• Identify the places that gnats love and what foods they prefer to eat.
• Throw away or remove spoiled apples, put peaches in the refrigerator, take out the trash can - this will deprive fruit flies of the opportunity to have a well-fed life.
• Now you need to destroy the midges. To do this, try using a vacuum cleaner or a large wet rag.
• Determine which habits should be changed to keep fruit flies from returning to your kitchen and how to achieve this.

Toxic drugs are drastic measures. In relation to fruit flies, even professional exterminators do not recommend resorting to them. All the more effective traps you can easily make yourself using improvised means and a little time. Chemical aerosols for the home solve the problem for only two days (until a new generation grows up). And general cleaning - quickly and forever.

DIY traps

There is always everything at home for making baits. Moreover, the designs are as simple as possible and do not take time.

Drosophila traps are made on the principle of a container with a bait.

For a plastic trap, a disposable cup or curd jar is suitable. Put the treats inside: an old tea leaves, a rotten apple barrel, a slice of peach, banana and other fruits. Cover the top of the glass with cling film or tape, make several holes in it for the midges. Leave the trap in a warm place.

The simplest fruit fly trap is obtained from a regular bag. Better to take transparent. Inside, put everything that is at hand: rotten banana peel, napkins soaked in juice or wine, potato peels. The trap will lie a little on the windowsill and quickly collect the midges. Tie the bag in one dexterous motion and immediately take it to the trash can: small flies find their way out through the smallest holes.

If you left for the dacha and left fruits in the public domain, then on your return, be prepared for extensive military operations against fruit flies. A jar of glass will help in battle. Place the sweet gnat bait inside, and close the neck with a paper cone pointing downwards. A small hole should be left at the tip. Leave the jar next to the battery to enhance the rotting and fermentation processes that attract midges.

Alternative methods of struggle

Midges react sharply to harsh aromas. You can try to take advantage of this to drive them out of the house. It is most effective to combine mechanical traps and fly aromatherapy.

Drosophila avoid scents:

• camphor oil;
• dry twigs of wormwood and common tansy (just quickly place them on the walls of a house or apartment)
• harsh essential oils of frankincense, lemon, juniper (to enhance the effect, use an aroma lamp);
• paraffin candles with coniferous additives (at the same time, candles will add comfort to the kitchen).

Traditional methods

By using the tools at hand, you can get rid of fruit flies at no extra cost. Many plants are natural repellents, the smell of which helps to quickly remove insects from an apartment or house. You can fight fruit flies using the smell of tansy, tomatoes, geranium, fern, elderberry, laurel. Their leaves should be placed in kitchen cabinets, next to the trash can.

Fruit flies do not like the smell of citrus fruits: lemon, orange, lime. Their peel will be an excellent repellant against flying gnats. The acrid smell of kerosene, turpentine, vinegar will rid the room of midges if you add these liquids to the water during wet cleaning. Poisoning midges in this way should be done with caution - households can also suffer from chemical aromas.

Drosophila midges can take a fancy to moist soil and rotting leaves in pots of indoor flowers. The following measures will help to destroy annoying midges and prevent their reproduction:

1. Reduce watering of plants. Remove water from the trays.
2. Remove fallen leaves from the top layer of soil in pots.
3. Insert matches with their heads down into the ground. Sulfur adversely affects underground pot dwellers.
4. If it was not possible to destroy the fruit flies in the flowers, it is necessary to replace the soil with a new one, previously dried in the oven.

Prevention of the appearance of fruit flies

Folk remedies for pest control

If for some reason you do not want to get involved with the chemical industry, then "grandmother's methods" will come to your aid. Fortunately, there are a lot of them in the arsenal of a good housewife who knows how to get rid of fruit gnats.

If fruit flies are started, then they can be frightened off by odors that are unpleasant for them. Such, for example:

• Tansy, fern, elderberry. Their leaves must be laid out in rooms, and the pests will fly away. Just keep in mind that tansy can cause headaches in people with weak brain vessels.
• Turpentine or kerosene will scare away domestic midges pretty quickly. So that he does not scare your household, add a small amount of the indicated products to the water with which you wash the windows or the floor. The human nose does not smell the unpleasant amber, but the uninvited winged guests - yes. This is a great way to breed fruit flies.
• Tomato seedlings are also a great remedy. The smell of tomatoes is pungent, hardly anyone will like it.

If you are annoyed that you will have to use such powerful heavy artillery, then perhaps you will not be upset with a geranium in a pot or a tree of myrtle or eucalyptus? Their smell is very unpleasant for flower flies, so there is a chance to get rid of them once and for all. Doors and window frames are rubbed with laurel oil, which also contributes to success in the fight against domestic pests.

Poison from midges

You can make a poison for fruit flies with your own hands:

• We take half a glass of milk, pour 40 grams of sugar and black pepper in powder each. Soak a napkin or a piece of toilet paper in this mixture, put it on a plate ... Vaul! And the uninvited guests are gone!
• Mix three tablespoons of milk with formalin (half a teaspoon) and sweet baking soda (5 teaspoons). Pour into saucers and put slices of black bread there. Such a poison should attract and destroy fruit flies.
• Mix honey (10 g) with saccharin (1 g). Soak the napkins in the solution and dry, sprinkle with a little water and spread them on the windowsill.

Indoor gnat traps

The easiest way is to use an apple bite trap. Pour it into a deep container (the smell will attract pests), add water and dishwashing detergent there. The latter will prevent the fly from flying back.

A paper funnel in a glass jar with rotten fruit bait at the bottom is a smart way to get rid of flies in your home.

All of these methods will help you fight domestic insects. It remains to choose according to your taste!

Aerosol use

To quickly poison fruit midges, you will need any insecticide spray. A can with a spray nozzle evenly distributes the chemical throughout the room and destroys all insects in a short time.

On a note!

When using chemicals from midges, it is necessary to observe precautions: use a respirator, gloves, protective clothing, do not spray near fire and heating devices. There should be no strangers in the treated room.

Sprays against pests

The most popular brands of insect sprays include:

1. Dichlorvos is an old reliable assistant in the fight against flies. Among the large assortment of insecticides of this brand there are odorless aerosols, which allows even allergy sufferers to use it. The price of one cylinder is 80 - 120 rubles.
2. Clean House - spray for fruit flies and other flying insects. The product is available in standard 150 ml cans and 400 ml economical containers. The price of a spray of a smaller volume is 90 rubles, a larger one is 200 rubles.
3. Raid is an aerosol made in the Netherlands. A large-volume 300 ml bottle allows you to destroy midges and other pests repeatedly. The average cost of a product is 200 rubles.

Where do fruit flies come from in an apartment

Midge larvae arrive at our house from the fields along with vegetables and fruits. In addition, a certain amount can enter the apartment through the ventilation grilles, as well as constantly inhabit the soil of flower pots. If you live on the first or second floor, it is possible for insects to enter through the windows (mosquito nets do not always stop them). In practice, it is impossible to prevent them from entering the room. And at the same time, unlike cockroaches, flies are not able to regularly and in large quantities penetrate to you through cracks in the walls from neighbors (at least such cases are rare).

Appearance and activity

Drosophila or fruit flies live next to people in apartments and houses, since the most favorable conditions have been created for them.

Flies have several subspecies, but most of the signs they converge:

1. Length. It does not exceed 3 mm, females are slightly larger than males.
2. Color. Most insects are light brown in color, but there are black, dark brown, yellow and orange individuals. They also have red eyes, dark stripes on the back of the abdomen, transparent wings that exceed the length of the body.
3. Reproduction. A female fruit fly can lay up to 400 eggs in her life, so insects breed very quickly.
4. The life span of a fly under favorable conditions is about 2.5 months.
5. Larva development. From the moment of laying the egg to the appearance of an adult, it takes about 10 days, provided that the temperature is above 25 ° C. Otherwise, the duration of this cycle is doubled.
6. Already on the second day after transformation, insects become reproductive, females begin to lay eggs.
7. Fruit flies do not bite.
8. Flies do not tolerate cold. They are able to live only at temperatures above 18 ° C.

The systematic position of the insect

The taxonomy of representatives of the fauna, including Drosophila flies, is based on several taxa, united by certain common features of the main and intermediate groups. Detailed information on what scientific names were assigned to these insects and in what groups they are distributed is presented in the table:

Categories	Category names
The main	Kingdom	Animals
Section	Bilaterally symmetric, bilateral
Domain	Eukaryotes
A type	Arthropods
Class	Insects
Squad	Diptera, or mosquitoes and flies
Family	Fruit flies, fruit flies
Intermediate	Subkingdom	Eumetazoi, or true multicellular
Subsection	Protostomes
Supertype	Shedding
Subtype	Tracheal, or tracheal breathing (parous)
Superclass	Six-legged
Suborder	Short-necked (locust, filly)
Infraorder	Muscomorpha
Section	Schizophora
Superfamily	Ephydroidea

Life cycle

Drosophila flies are found throughout the world, with a wide variety of species in tropical regions. They can be found in deserts, tropical forests, cities, swamps, alpine zones. Some northern species hibernate. Most reproduce on decaying plant and fungal materials:

• fruits;
• peel;
• flowers;
• mushrooms.

Read more Fly Bite Symptoms and Treatment
Larvae of D. suzukii, feed on fresh fruits, sometimes pests. Several species have become parasites or predators. Many are attracted to lures made from fermented bananas or mushrooms, others are not interested in baits. Males gather in areas of the substrate to compete for females.

D. melanogaster, D. Immigrans, D. simulans are closely related to humans and are often referred to as domestic species. They are distributed throughout the world as a result of human activities such as transporting fruits.

Where do Drosophila flies come from in an apartment?

The first step is to find the reason for the appearance of flies in your apartment. There may be several of them, but the most common is the litter of the room. A berry rolled under the table, sticky spots on the tablecloth, and a trash can not emptied in time are also the cause of fruit flies. Drosophila perfectly feel where exactly there is enough food for them, and fly to the smell, and then completely settle in grain places. And as soon as you leave an unfinished apple on the table or do not wash the dishes, some fly will surely fly to the treat.

But even if you keep your kitchen clean, this is not a guarantee that fruit flies will not appear on it. Unclean neighbors, clogged sewers, excessively damp soil of indoor plants, food that has not been eaten by animals - all this attracts them. These small flies enter your home thanks to your pets or straight from the store.

If the reason for the appearance of flies is established, then it will become much easier to deal with them. The most implacable enemy of these insects has always been the usual hygiene, depriving them of food, and moderation in watering plants. Midges are very fond of moisture, Drosophili literally translates from Latin as "loving moisture". By removing all possible food sources for flies and stopping flooding your favorite flowers, you are almost guaranteed to rid yourself of the annoying insect society, because they have nothing to eat and nowhere to live. See the article "How to get rid of midges in indoor flowers?".

In addition, the cereals should be poured into separate containers in order to avoid moisture ingress, and carefully look at the subject of already laid eggs. Perishable food should be kept in the refrigerator, and the fruit on the table should be fresh: it is better not to add one apple than to throw out the whole fruit plate later. And, of course, you need to throw out all the trash and rinse the trash can with disinfectant.

Reasons for the appearance of fruit flies

By the way, about tea - Drosophila is also very fond of sweet tea, so they appear on the tea mushroom - settle in whole colonies on its surface, and also in flowers that caring housewives like to pour with the remains of tea from mugs. So, if you don't want to create comfortable conditions for the flies, cover the mushroom with a fine nylon mesh folded in several layers and rinse it daily in running water. And flowers - water them with fertilizers suitable for this, they will only thank you, sugar in the earth is absolutely superfluous.

But nothing from "nothing" can appear. Where did the fruit flies come from then, especially if it is winter outside?

In nature, the fruit fly lives on fruit trees, and in apartments it can be brought inside fruits in the form of eggs and larvae, or together with soil for domestic plants - it can also contain fruit fly larvae.

Yes, that same banana most likely already contained Drosophila eggs.

Remedies

The list of possible ways of the appearance of midges in the apartment suggests the general state of order and cleanliness in the house. If you keep them at the proper level, the chances of breeding will be low for flies.

Prophylaxis

Preventive measures are important, if they are carried out regularly, then the problem of how to deal with fruit flies may not arise. Simple rules will help you to follow them.

• Spoiled food must be placed in a plastic bag and taken out of the apartment as soon as possible. Store fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator.
• The trash can is emptied at least once every 2 days or as soon as it is full.
• Uncovered food, dirty dishes, crumbs are a treat for the flies and they will gladly use it. Therefore, clean tables, an empty sink in the kitchen are the key to success.
• Regular pet grooming (cleaning the cage, washing the toilet, getting rid of food debris in the feeder) will keep small flies out of their habitat.
• You should not fill the plants with water without measure and feed them with tea leaves.

If preventive actions fail in some area, the question arises - how to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment. Here you can call for help proven by generations of housewives means.

Midges flock to spoiled food, so it needs to be eliminated

Scarers

Horseradish root is used to scare off small flies and thereby drive them out of the house. This smell is especially unpleasant for flies. Pieces of horseradish, spread out in all rooms, will quickly solve the problem of how to get rid of fruit flies.

Not to the taste of annoying insects and the smell of camphor

A small piece of substance from midget flies is gently heated until white smoke appears and all rooms are bypassed in turn. Flies will leave an inhospitable home after a similar gas attack.

Strong-smelling substances (turpentine, kerosene) will cope not only with flies. For a person, this smell is not the most pleasant. But the concentration to scare away is small.

It is enough to add a tablespoon of the substance to the water for washing windows and floors in the kitchen and the fruit flies will disappear without a trace.

Planting a geranium or a myrtle tree is a good choice. No self-respecting tiny fly will invade your home. If there is an opportunity to plant a predator plant on the windowsill, then it will take care of the removal of insects. An example is the Venus flytrap. The plant is easy to care for, small in size and safe for humans. It is able to catch not only midges, but also other flying invaders.

The smell of myrtle scares away midges

Mechanical methods

A vacuum cleaner will help to collect all the insects in one container. A pipe without a nozzle catches them. After that, the dust collector is quickly taken out and the midges are shaken out.

A draft will save you from the invasion. A directed air flow will carry unpleasant guests out of the apartment. But the midges have the opportunity to return, therefore, it is recommended to spread out the products on the windowsills, the smell of which will scare away uninvited guests.

Bait

In the fight against flies, all means are good. If you are not too lazy, then it is easy to build a trap from scrap materials. Put pieces of fruit or banana peels in a plastic bottle. Small holes are made with a preheated awl. During the night, the whole colony of midges will gather in a bowl for a feast. It remains to throw it away with the bottle.

You can also mix apple cider vinegar, dish soap, and water. The mixture is poured into small containers. The midges will not have enough strength to get out of the can.

Midges love sweet solutions. This property can be turned against them. In habitats, containers with low sides are placed and a liquid that attracts flies is poured. Compote, wine, sweet tea, beer, etc. will do. Flying insects will gladly taste the treat and drown in it.

Trap for gnats from jar, syrup and paper cone

Helpful hints

In the vastness of the mighty Internet, there are tips to plant any insectivorous plant at home. They praise him, they say, and take up little space, and are unpretentious in care, and bring great benefits.There is no doubt that predatory plants do an excellent job with their task. True, there are several buts. First, the flower pot should be placed in places where fruit flies accumulate. Secondly, when the trap slams shut, it takes some time for the insect to digest. This process takes about a week. During this time, so many fruit flies will hatch that a whole forest of predators will be needed. Thirdly, all carnivorous plants are extremely capricious to care for.

Or do the advisers think the flower will flap a trap like a dog hunting flies in summer? If the doors slammed shut in vain, then they will open only the next day. By the way, when the midges disappear, you will have to periodically feed the plant with live food. If this is not done, then it will die in a month or two.

In general, this is absolutely not a method of getting rid of fruit flies in an apartment. These are extra chores for plant care.

By the way, about home colors. When buying new ones, be sure to transplant them into a different soil, having previously disinfected it. This can be done by placing the soil in the freezer for 24 hours. Or ignite in the oven, setting the temperature to no higher than + 115 ° C. It will be very good if the soil is thoroughly shed before planting with a strong hot (+ 80 ° C) solution of potassium permanganate.

The fact is that store land is often infested with fruit flies. And high humidity in the pot and plant parts is the most suitable environment for the development of flies. Be sure to remove fallen leaves and heal decaying plants in a timely manner.

If you neglect these simple rules of care, then at one far from perfect moment you will have to use approved insecticides. Because the traps here will no longer cope. The difficulty lies in the fact that all your tricks work only on adults. And they are completely safe for larvae and pupae. The systemic struggle should continue regularly for at least a couple of weeks. Then your remedies will work on the next generations of insects.

And then some comrades will bring out adult flies and calm down. And after a few days, new individuals hatch. Then angry comments on the net begin: the methods do not work, the fruit flies have overpowered what to do, nothing helps ... Themselves are to blame. A little more diligence and everything will work out as planned.

How to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment? It is easier to prevent their appearance by carefully cleaning the home. But, if the uninvited guests have turned up, then it will not be difficult and impossible to cope with them. Methodically and regularly using the above methods, you can permanently evict insects from the house.

Anatomical features of a housefly

The fly's hairy body is divided into three main sections, represented by the abdomen, chest and head. The last section, in the form of a hemispherical shape, has a rather simplified view at the back, and it is convex at the front.

The eyes of the representative of the indoor species have a facet system, are large and dark red in color. In females, the distance between the eyes is equal to the size of the existing organ of vision, in males, to 2/3 of its length.

Between the existing eyes of the fly, there is a forehead, the middle part of which is marked by the so-called frontal stripe, bounded on the sides by two rows of bristles. In males, it is considered rather narrow, especially when compared with the frontal strip of the female.

Between the inner edges of the eyes and the frontal stripe, the orbits of the eyes are located, framed from top to bottom by the cheekbones, and upward by dark plates. The orbits and cheekbones of the insect are covered in the form of small hairs of a yellow or silvery shade.

Under the existing arcuate seam on the "front" part of the insect there are thin antennae, in the form of antennae, which are the organs of smell.

The fly is equipped with three pairs of legs, which in turn are subdivided into 5 more parts. The last part is the insect's feet.The fly moves on claws, under which there are so-called sticky pads, which allow the insect to easily run along steep walls and ceilings.

The housefly can be up to 8 mm long. The insect is colored gray, where the abdomen has a yellow tint, and the chest is decorated with four stripes in black. If we compare flies with each other, then females of this species are much larger than males.

In the process of flight, the fly uses exclusively the front pair of wings, while the rear one acts as a so-called organ of balance. With the help of the halteres (rear pair of wings) and the receptors located on them, the fly can easily determine its location. Without the halterer, the fly will be completely disoriented in space.

Haltera flies photo

How to deal with fruit flies?

Flies flock to sweet aromas, rotten pieces of vegetables and fruits. All folk remedies for fighting and trapping are associated precisely with sweet food. Effective methods for home traps:

1. Pour fruit juice, a few drops of water, vinegar, detergent into the bowl. Place in a place where insects congregate. Soon they will begin to flock to attractive aromas, falling and pouring onto the surface of the liquid in the bowl.
2. Put a piece of fruit in a glass jar, pour a little compote or sweet juice. Insert a paper funnel with a wide neck, but a narrow bottom, so that the flies cannot come out back. Glue the neck of the jar with tape for reliability. So the fruit flies will begin to flock to the aromas, fall into the container without the ability to get back.
3. Pour fruit (wood) juice and soap solution into a bottle with a narrow neck. Place in a place where insects accumulate. The soapy film on the surface of the juice will prevent them from getting back. Top up the solution as it dries.
4. Take a glass of yogurt, put the bait (compote, juice, fruit) on the bottom. Cover the top with cling film, make several holes in it. The midges will begin to flock and get inside without the ability to get back and fly away.

As bait, you can use slices of melon, watermelon. You can fold the fruit into a bag by making several holes in it. When the midges gather, then with a sharp movement close the package, take it out in the trash.

Help to remove insects:

• fumigators;
• sticky tape with spread fruit juice;
• shop traps for catching (Aeroxon, Raptor);
• chemical aerosols, insecticides (Dichlorvos, Combat, Hexachloran), if necessary, treat sewer drains, drains;
• flowers that will close-open during the capture of prey;
• kerosene and turpentine, add a few drops to clean water, wash the windows and walls with the resulting solution.

Flies are afraid of fresh air and low temperatures. Surely there will be fewer of them in the room if you leave the window open at night. Elderberry with a specific smell scares well, for which it is enough to spread the leaves around the apartment. Tomato seedlings, predatory plants (tansy, fern, geranium), which can serve as bait, scare away midges.

Danger to humans

The larvae of the genus Eristalis are not parasites. But bee eggs laid on food can be swallowed by humans. While swimming in a dirty pond, there is a possibility of larvae entering the body. An alternative infection option is the laying of eggs by the female near the anus. Being in the rectum, it irritates the walls of the organ with its breathing tube. The resulting myiasis is called eristoliasis. The disease is registered in India, Australia, South America and some European countries - Denmark, Belgium, Spain.

Symptoms of the disease: diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, itching in the anus. In some cases, symptoms do not appear. The disease is treated with medication, metronidazole and nifuroxazide are prescribed.

Reproduction

The life cycle of insects consists of a number of metamorphoses:

• The female lays eggs in a rotten fruit;
• If conditions are favorable, larvae appear after a day;
• Within 4-5 days, they grow and feed on fruit juice and microorganisms that take part in the decomposition process;
• Then the larvae pupate and stay in the cocoon for five days;
• A young individual appears.

This entire period takes 10 to 20 days. One female will lay approximately 400 eggs during her life.

Interesting facts about fruit flies: