- How to get rid of fruit (fetal) midges
- other methods
The bad news: the midges in the kitchen can multiply to a few hundred a week. Good news: Drosophila, also called fruit or fruit midge, is the most harmless kind - they do not bite, do not tolerate the infection and they can be easily removed at home.
Whence come the midges in the kitchen, these little importunate pests? There are only three variants of answers here:
- They flew from the street to the smell of a stale fragrant or spoiled product.
- Eggs of Simuliidae came to your kitchen along with purchased fruits or vegetables.
- They were planted in the soil of indoor plants because of overmoistening or because they stood on a balcony, a street, near an open window. If you notice that insects are curling in flower pots, then it can be either all the same "fruit" or flower flies (syarids). How to distinguish them? Flower midges are more like black mosquitoes, and fruit flies are smaller flies. You can see the difference in the photo below. If you understand that in the flower pots in the kitchen the fruitless midges are wound up, this article is for you, and if you have discovered the sciarids, then look in a separate article with detailed instructions.
Since the midges are not only flying adults, but also gluttonous larvae and eggs, the fight against them must be complex. For information on how to get rid of midges in the kitchen, read our step-by-step instructions.
How to get rid of fruit (fetal) midges
Step 1. Find and eliminate the source of the appearance of midges
To get rid of eggs, you need to find the source of reproduction and subsistence of flies, and then close it in a package and immediately take it out of the house. As you know, fruit flies lay eggs in fruits and vegetables, but not only! Any place where there is food and moisture, can attract insects. In general, if you can not find the source in any way, look for it in non-obvious places. Here are some tips for finding:
.- If you keep compost for indoor plants in the kitchen, then you should look to it.
- When was the last time you washed a garbage can? Even if you regularly throw out a package with garbage, the container itself can be a source of problems.
- Vinegar, beer and wine also attract insects. Think about it, maybe an open bottle with a smelling liquid might have been lying around?
- Mushrooms, cereals and cheeses - far from fruits and vegetables, but even the midges do not disdain them.
- A clogged kitchen sink is another potential breeding ground for insects.
- Look for stale and damp sponges, rags or a mop.
- Sometimes the cause of the appearance of midges can be a sweet liquid, a headset that leaks into the socle, a kitchen box, a refrigerator or other places.
Step 2. Hide and close all products
Now all the products in the kitchen should be hidden in order to deprive the fruit fly food and places for reproduction.
- Fruit, vegetables, jam, sweets and other goodies of Simuliidae can be hidden in the refrigerator or closed in tightly closed containers. Do not leave the ripened fruit outside the refrigerator until the problem is resolved.
Theoretically, this measure may be enough for the midge to die, but it will take this process from 10 days (in the warm season) and up to, months of winter time. Therefore, to get rid of midges in the kitchen quickly, you need to arrange traps.
See also the material: How to store fruit at home - general principles, memo and photo-ideas.
Step 3. Set traps
Traps with funnels and baits - this is a simple folk way, which works 100%. The principle of operation is simple: the flies are lured into a container with a small opening by the smell of bait, and can not fly out again. Leaving in the kitchen such a trap in the evening, in the morning you will find a whole swarm of insects inside it.
How to make a trap:
- Take a glass jar, a vase or any other container with high walls and put / pour bait on its bottom, for example:
- Berries or a slice of fruit, say, pear or banana.
- A couple of spoons of jam.
- A little apple cider vinegar.
- Sheet A4 or any other paper twist into a cone, fix the tip with adhesive tape and, if necessary, cut it, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar. By the way, the most effective trap will come from paper of yellow or orange color, which will appear to the midges as citrus - the safest from their enemies is the os-riders delicacy.
- Put one or a pair of such traps in places of high risk - for example, near the sink, garbage can, flower pot, if the fruit flies wound up there.
- After a few hours, pour a warm soapy solution into the jar (without removing the funnel!) To drown the caught insects. Hold the solution in the jar for a few minutes, then pour the contents.
- If you do not catch all the fruit fly at a time, repeat the procedure until the trap is empty. In addition, we recommend repeating the procedure 8-10 days after a positive result, because of the remaining eggs somewhere may grow a "new generation" of Simuliidae.
The photo below shows other types of traps with the same principle of action. As you can see, instead of a paper funnel, you can use a kitchen funnel or a toothpicked food film (a cellophane bag will also fit).
By the way, you can make a jar and a funnel from a plastic bottle. To do this, it must be cut into two parts, so that the part with the neck is shorter, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar with a neck down and to securely seal the trap with adhesive tape as shown in photo below.
And a little bit about prevention
Take note of the following tips for preventing the appearance of fruit flies in the kitchen:
- Keep your products closed, or better - in the refrigerator.
- Try to throw out the garbage daily, especially if you throw back bones and sticks of fruit or vegetables. Also do not forget to wash the garbage can itself once a week, and in the summer and at all 2 times a week.
- In time, dispose of other potential foci of reproduction of fruit fly. Old sponges, rags, wet mops and any other objects that you use for cleaning can contain eggs of Simuliidae. Throw it away or wash it in a washing machine in hot-wash mode.
- Regularly clean the sink drain.
other methods
Ethyl alcohol of 70 or 90% will help quickly kill Simuliidae. To do this, it needs to be poured into the atomizer and sprayed directly on the flying flies. Adult Drosophila instantly fall to the floor and you will only have to sweep the floor. This method is good because alcohol is a safer "insecticide" than special means, besides, it can kill eggs.
And what if the midges in the kitchen are in the sink? To check whether it is a spawning ground for a fruit fly, you can do this: glue a piece of food film, coated with a thin layer of honey, to the sink, and then return to the sink in an hour. If you see that the fruit flies are stuck in honey, then your washing is part of the problem. To eliminate it, make sure that the drain works normally, and then pour into it a boiling soap solution. Finally, use a brush to clean the drain walls.
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- . How to get rid of midges in flowers.
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