How to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment

Fruit flies, like most insects, become active in the summer, mercilessly poisoning the rest with their existence. The fight against these insects is never easy, and there are a great many methods, but before talking about them, you need to understand the sources of the flies. In order to initially eliminate the cause of their spread.

Fruit flies are small flies of a yellowish-gray color, about 2 mm long. Females are noticeably larger than males, have a sharp end of the abdomen. The eyes are mainly red. They live in the southern regions of Russia, but with the onset of summer they penetrate into the northern regions. The main source of these insects are fruits and vegetables imported into our country. They feed on fruits, vegetables and tree sap. Usually prefers to be closer to human habitation. They live in huge numbers in orchards, vineyards, and wine production enterprises.

Reproduction of fruit flies

The fruit fly has 3 stages of development - egg, larva and adult. Larvae live in liquid or semi-liquid environments. Eggs are laid by the female on decomposed fruits or other places where there is a supply of nutrients. During this period of development, flies especially need nutrition, the viability, size and development of the future insect depend on its intensity. Approximately after 3-5 days, young individuals appear, soon (7-9 hours) they become sexually mature. After this, already on the second day, the females lay eggs, this process is continuous. One clutch contains from 40 to 90 eggs.The life cycle of the fly ranges from 15 days to 3 months, depending on the temperature.

Drosophila flies are also called fruit flies. Their appearance is associated with fruits that have begun to ferment, since Drosophila, especially their larvae, eat rotten parts of fruits and vegetables. In city apartments, flies mainly appear in indoor plants. Waterlogged soil, various fumes, leaves that are beginning to rot - all this is a green light for flies. Indoor insects are very resistant to chemical methods of fighting them, but it is also possible to eliminate them.

Prevention of the appearance of flies

You should not take soil for indoor plants from the garden, it may contain larvae and eggs of fruit flies. It is best to buy soil in specialized stores or enterprises.
To prevent the appearance of flies in flower pots, you should water often, but moderately, avoiding over-wetting the soil, and remove rotten leaves and flowers immediately.
Sort out vegetables and fruits in a timely manner, throw away spoiled fruits immediately.
Carry out a general cleaning at least once every 1.5 - 2 weeks.
Do not leave fruits, vegetables and dairy products on the table and store them in the refrigerator.
Take the trash can out of the room in a timely manner and periodically wash it with water with the addition of disinfectants.
Carefully monitor the plates of your animals: throw out leftover food and wash more often.

To get rid of fruit flies that have already appeared, you need to act quickly and use complex measures, not individual means.

Chemical methods of control

"Dichlorvos".The most obvious remedy and you shouldn't be skeptical about it. Over the many years of its existence, it has undergone a number of improvements, and it has virtually no odor. In addition to it, there are similar products with other names. Thoroughly treat the room with the product and leave it for half an hour. During this time, the fruit flies will be exterminated and the substances harmful to humans will have time to neutralize in the room.

If a person is allergic to the chemical components of the same "Dichlorvos" or does not want to use ready-made products, and there are no ingredients or time to make your own, then you can remember the good old folk remedies.

If chemicals do not suit you, then you can make the poison yourself.

Getting rid of fruit flies with traps

Place watermelon and melon rinds in a plastic bag, without holes, preferably quite dense and leave open for a while. Then go to the bag and quickly close it. All the flies will remain on the crusts, attracted by their sweet smell.
Take a small container, you can use a jar or a bottle with a wide neck, put pieces of pears or any other sweet fruits on the bottom, make a cone out of cardboard or paper and place the sharp end inside. The flies will fly in, but will not be able to get back out.
Pour any fruit juice into flat containers, having previously added a little black pepper to it. Black pepper is poison for these insects.
In a jar, preferably with a narrow neck, leave fruit juice with an admixture of liquid soap (a small amount). Having enjoyed the juice, the flies will not be able to get back out, sliding on the detergent, and will remain there. The juice can be replaced with apple cider vinegar.
Mix honey and sugar in a ratio of 10:1. Wet napkins with this solution and spread them on surfaces where flies are most common (window sills or dining tables).
Mix 200 ml milk with sugar and a small amount of pepper powder. We also soak napkins in the mixture.
Milk, soda and formalin - 6:5:12. Pour into flat containers and add pieces of black bread. This mixture is poisonous for fruit flies.
The simplest thing is to hang sticky catch tapes throughout your living space.

Fresh air and natural smells

Oddly enough, flies are afraid of fresh air, especially cold air. It is best to leave the room open overnight. The flies will simply freeze in the cold night air.

Drosophila can be scared off by smells:

Elderberry and fern. Their leaves need to be spread throughout the room.
Turpentine or kerosene can be added to the water for cleaning windows. People and pets do not recognize the smell, but this will be enough to remove unpleasant guests.
The smell of tomato seedlings will also scare away pests.
Geranium or eucalyptus. Their smell is quite unpleasant to fruit flies.

An unusual option for fighting is predator plants

Plants that feed on small flies, mosquitoes and other insects. They do not require special care, tolerate unfavorable conditions well and do not take up much living space, but, nevertheless, they fight flies well.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that flies reproduce quite quickly, which is why they are extremely popular among biologists. They are an ideal object for conducting many experiments.The genetic code of these insects has many similarities with the human one. Thanks to this, scientists have the opportunity to develop new means of combating oncological and hereditary diseases. To a greater extent, fruit flies are not pests, they recycle waste and enhance decomposition processes, returning minerals and oxygen to the cycle of substances, but, nevertheless, they extremely poison human life. The means proposed in this article in complex use will help make life easier and get rid of annoying fruit flies.