- the essentials in brief
- What to do against vinegar flies?
- Natural traps - This is how carnivores catch their prey
- recognize vinegar flies
- Where do vinegar flies come from?
- How can I prevent an infestation?
- frequently asked Questions
The annoying fruit flies become a nuisance within a very short time. They sit everywhere in the home and infest food. In the summer months, the animals spread en masse. After all, the cold season offers a short break. But what helps against vinegar flies?
Fruit flies are annoying insects and almost always appear in large numbers
Table of Contents
Show all- the essentials in brief
- Home remedies for vinegar flies
- recognize vinegar flies
- Where do vinegar flies come from?
- Prevent vinegar fly infestation
- frequently asked Questions
- Vinegar flies can be caught with various homemade traps, e.g. with wine, fruit juice or vinegar and washing-up liquid
- Carnivorous plants are not a suitable control measure as they only eat one fly every few days.
- To prevent this, compost containers should be closed tightly and no bad or cut fruit should be left lying around.
- fruit juice
- beer
- sparkling wine
- Drosera: D. capensis, D. spatulata, D. aliciae
- pinguicula: 'Sethos', 'Tina', 'Weser'
- Dionaea: 'Crocodile', 'Akai Ryu', 'Bimbo'
- Halve the lemon
- Crumble the cloves into the pulp
- Spread lemon halves between cake plates
- Use fresh lemon every two to three days
- on overripe and damaged fruit
- in supermarkets with food stored openly
- on the compost
- Refrain from buying dirty fruit and vegetables
- store fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator in the warm summer
- Wipe off sticky residue from spilled beverage packages
- Store organic waste in closed containers and dispose of it regularly
- dried olive herb
- fresh tomato leaves
- crumbled cloves
the essentials in brief
What to do against vinegar flies?
The first aid against fruit flies is to use a vacuum cleaner. If you slowly approach the insects sitting on the wall, you can simply suck them up. With it you can quickly get rid of most of the insects. In order to remove the escaped flies as well, you should use various means.
Build a trap
Take a bowl or glass and fill it with liquid or fermenting fruit like grapes. Pull cling film over the opening. Poke several holes in the foil with a nail. These serve as entry openings. Insects can easily find their way inside because the aromas only flow out through the openings. In this way, you can easily catch and eliminate those pesky flies, because they can no longer escape from the trap.
youtube| effect | advantage | |
|---|---|---|
| denture cleaner | drives away vinegar flies | more pleasant than vinegar smell |
| erythritol | attracting, paralyzing, killing | not harmful to health |
| tomato leaves | chilling aroma | no odor nuisance |
Fly trap with wine
Fill a shot glass with white wine and add a few drops of dish soap to reduce surface tension. Some apple cider vinegar provides an even stronger attraction. Place the glass near the fruit baskets. The liquid gives off a stronger odor than the fruit, causing the insects to fly to the shot glass. Insects will drown trying to settle.
Variations:
yeast milk
Dissolve a quarter of a fresh yeast cube in lukewarm water and stir in a teaspoon of sugar. When the milky liquid stands in a warm place, fermentation begins. Pour the milk into a bottle and place it in the kitchen.
The fruit flies are magically attracted by the scent and fly into the narrow neck of the bottle, from which they cannot find their way out. When the bubbles stop forming and fermentation stops, you can keep feeding the yeast a little sugar. If too many vinegar flies have collected in the liquid, replace them completely.
carnivorous plants
Although carnivorous plants "eat" vinegar flies, they cannot exterminate a plague
Venus flytrap, butterwort and sundew are ideal plants for the bright window sill in the kitchen and living room. The carnivores don't get too big and are relatively easy to care for if the water balance is right. Since the plants have a limited absorption capacity, they cannot kill large amounts of vinegar flies.
It usually takes several days before an insect has been digested and the plant can again invest energy in the production of digestive secretions. Therefore, carnivorous plants are useful as a preventive measure against the spread of fruit flies. You can contain the population right from the start and prevent the insects from multiplying uncontrollably.
Large-leaved and strong-growing species:
digression
Natural traps - This is how carnivores catch their prey
Sundew and butterwort produce aromas that magically attract vinegar flies. As soon as the insects land on the sticky leaves, they are trapped and cannot escape. The Venus flytrap has evolved a different trapping mechanism. As soon as an insect sits on the red glowing catching leaves, fine hairs are touched and deformed. This sends the signal that the flap must close.Once the carnivores have caught their prey, a secretion takes care of the digestion. The fruit flies will decompose over the next few days, leaving behind the indigestible chitin shell. These remnants dissolve over time.
Expel from the cake
Vinegar flies are also attracted to fruit on cakes and other baked goods. Since a trap near food is not only repulsive but also unsanitary, you can use another trick.
This deters vinegar flies:
recognize vinegar flies
Drosophila melanogaster, our most common fruit fly, has red eyes
Fruit flies are a family also known as fruit flies. A common species that prefers to be close to humans is Drosophila melanogaster. This insect grows to about three millimeters in size and can be recognized by its yellow-brown carapace and red compound eyes. The species, originally from the tropics, has spread worldwide through humans and overwinters in houses.
| Black-bellied fruit fly | cherry vinegar fly | |
|---|---|---|
| scientific | Drosophila melanogaster | Drosophila suzukii |
| size | approx. 2.5mm | approx. 2 to 3.5 mm |
| special feature | Males with dark colored abdomen | Males with dark spot on wingtips |
tips
Vinegar flies prefer citrus fruits to lay their eggs. Therefore, you should dip exposed lemons and oranges in a vinegar bath.
fungus gnats and fruit flies
Fungus gnats are a family that is only distantly related to fruit flies. It belongs to the suborder of mosquitoes, while vinegar flies are classified to the suborder of flies. The larvae of these small black flies develop in the potting soil. The females lay their eggs on bare substrate, allowing the larvae to burrow into the protected soil. They feed on plant roots. Fungus gnats like a humid and warm microclimate.
The small black flies that come out of the potting soil are not to be confused with vinegar flies.
bore flies and fruit flies
Bore flies have yellowish-green eyes
Drill flies are a family more closely related to the fruit flies, for which the German trivial name fruit flies has also become common. These flies have strikingly marked wings and lay their eggs in plant parts and fruit with a stinger. Some species cause considerable damage in fruit growing. However, they do not come into question as pests in private households.
Where do vinegar flies come from?
Fruit flies buzz around the compost heap in the warm summer months or look for overripe fruit in the garden. They are attracted by sweet smells and enter the apartment through open windows. But often you bring vinegar flies home with the shopping bag.
Fruit flies are found here:
life cycle and development
The females can lay up to 400 eggs, which they attach to mature to rotten parts of the plant. The larvae that hatch later are supplied with food in this way. They feed on dead plant debris, rotten fruit and microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria that decompose the fruit.
During their development, they go through three larval stages before pupating. Depending on the environmental conditions, the development takes ten to 14 days, so fruit flies can develop several generations per year. In this way, they quickly become a nuisance in the kitchen.
How can I prevent an infestation?
Since vinegar flies thrive in a warm and windless environment, you should ventilate rooms thoroughly and regularly. Food leftovers that settle in niches behind the oven or next to the refrigerator serve as a food source for fruit flies. Therefore, you should clean such corners well. Thoroughly wash all fruit, even if it is not damaged or dirty.
You should pay attention to this:
tips
The eggs need moisture to hatch into larvae. Therefore, do not leave any food unattended.
frequently asked Questions
What can you do about vinegar flies?
As the name suggests, vinegar flies are attracted to vinegar. Set up a vessel and fill it with a mixture of vinegar, dish soap and wine or fruit juice. Cover the trap with cling film and poke a few holes in it. The fruit flies will find their way to the liquid but will not be able to get out of the jar.
These smells act as a deterrent:
Where do fruit flies live?
The females lay their eggs on decaying plant parts and fermenting fruit so that the larvae that later hatch can find enough food. Unlike fungus gnats, they do not live in the potting soil. The insects prefer a warm and windless environment. They need moisture to lay their eggs. Leftovers from leaked beverage cartons are sufficient as a basis for life. The insects spend the winter as a pupa in leftover food or in compost.
How can I recognize vinegar flies?
The insects are two to three millimeters in size. Females are usually slightly larger than males. They can be recognized by their typically red colored compound eyes. Their body shimmers yellowish-brown to reddish, with males of some species having a dark-colored abdomen. Other fruit flies have a dark spot on the wing tip. The eggs cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Do fly traps from the trade help against fruit flies?
Many products are efficient means of controlling a fruit fly infestation. They use liquids that act as attractants. With the help of a funnel, the flies are caught in a vessel. However, you can build such traps yourself with simple means to save money. An empty wine bottle with small remains is enough to catch fruit flies.