Fruit flies inject their 'eggs into ripe fruit' - how to get rid of them
Have you noticed fruit flies swirling around your kitchen and near your fruit? Here's how to get rid of them.
TikToker washing hack on how to remove fruit flies
Fruit flies are attracted to ripe foods, including bananas, which female fruit flies can use to lay eggs inside of.
Pest UK confirmed: "Female fruit flies inject batches of eggs into ripe fruit, thus contaminating it."
Female fruit flies can "lay up to 2,000 eggs" on the surface of anything that is moist and rotting.
Within a matter of days, tiny maggots can hatch on ripened fruit and then use the fruit for food.
If that wasn't concerning enough, within 48 hours, the maggots have grown up and are ready to mate, which can quickly turn into a fruit fly infestation.
These insects can spread bacteria, including salmonella and E. coli, so if you have them in your home, you would want to get rid of them as soon as possible.
First, Pest UK recommends throwing away all the food that fruit flies have been hoovering over.
Next, scrub the area clean and pour boiling hot water down the kitchen drain.
You then need to make traps, and an apple cider vinegar trap would work wonders.
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How to make an apple cider vinegar trap:
In a jar or plastic bottle, put in a splash of apple cider vinegar and a squeeze of washing-up liquid.
Then place a paper cone on top of the jar; if using a plastic bottle, have the top of the plastic bottle cut off so that it can be used as part of the trap.
With the top of the plastic bottle, place the narrow part pointing downwards in the bottle to make a funnel.
The flies will be attracted to the apple cider vinegar inside of the bottle, and the washing-up liquid will trap them.
Meanwhile, the cone will make it difficult for any surviving flies to leave the trap.
How to prevent fruit flies
Do cover any fruit on the table or on kitchen worktops to stop attracting fruit flies into your home.
Additional measures include emptying the bin every day and cleaning up any spills immediately.
Fruit flies are also put off by the smell of lemongrass, so adding a small muslin bag with this herb may help to ward off an infestation.
