Fruit flies are commonly found swarming around fruits and they be threatening to our health. This article will tell you all you need to know about fruit flies.
So, where do fruit flies lay eggs? Fruit flies often lay their eggs on overripe fruits or rotting fruits. They may occasionally lay their eggs in other materials such as vegetables, garbage, decaying carcasses of other animals and more.
This is why you must stay away from food or fruits that has made contact with a fly.
You will never know if they laid their eggs somewhere around your food.
Fruit flies, just like other common species of fly, follow the same behavior and that is prioritizing their survivability. That is their natural instinct.
Most fly eggs are laid in almost any warm, moist material that will provide food for the larvae (maggots), making it perfect for fruit flies to lay eggs on or inside fruits.
Warm weathered areas usually offer bountiful resources of fruits and other food, making it easy for fruit flies to grow their numbers.
There are also situations when a fruit fly (or any other fly) would lay eggs on wet rugs, carpets, dirty mops or other moist material.
If there are also spilled liquid substances that are sweet or consumable, fruit flies may also lay their eggs around that area.
The average fruit fly can lay up to four or six batches of 75 to 100 eggs and it normally hatches after 12 to 24 hours. Fly eggs are usually colored gray and the size is around 4 to 7.5 millimeters long.
There are plenty of places where flies could lay their eggs. A fruit fly commonly lay eggs on fruits and vegetables, bu it is important that you know every possible place or factor that could cause them to lay eggs around your place.
Where fruit flies might lay eggs (What attracts fruit flies)
Fruit flies do not only lay eggs on fruits alone. They can also lay eggs on other areas, as mentioned earlier.
To keep fruit fly eggs away, the best thing you can do is just maintain cleanliness in your area.
There is an unwritten rule that whatever attracts a fly, may cause them to lay eggs near the place that attracted them.
Here are the things that attracts a fruit fly – and the things you must avoid if you do not want them to lay eggs around your home or area.
- Garbage Bins
- Flies usually find food inside garbage bins. They consume food such as fermented fruits, spoiled meat, overripe fruits and vegetables. This is why we must keep the garbage lid closed and shut off properly in order to avoid making flies swarm over the bin.
- Feces, Animal Waste
- Flies, almost all kinds of them, consume feces from nearly any kind of animal. This is also the reason why they carry so many bacteria and develop various transmittable diseases.
- Plants
- Certain plants such as mint, sunflowers and daises attract flies for consumption purposes. Flies may also drink from plants and lay their eggs on plants. Sometimes, they just simply land on plants to rest for a while.
- Carcasses
- Consuming carcasses is another way for these flies to fill their stomachs and they also lay their eggs on carcasses so that once the egg hatches, the larvae will have something to feed on the moment they are born.
- Liquid substances
- Spilled soda and juices from fruits can be very inviting for these flies. Not only are they able to hydrate themselves through these consumable liquids, they are also satisfied by the sweet flavor it contains.
- The larvae are usually safe with consumable liquid substances, making it a safe spot for laying fly eggs.
- Unattended food
- It is true that they still come near unattended food but without human intervention, they can feast on the food without worry of getting caught by human traps and other animals too. They are opportunistic and therefore, they will take what they can and lay their eggs without you knowing.
- Warm temperatures
- Like other animals and insects, flies are also quite weak against the cold. They thrive better under warm temperatures and thus will seek places that are warm to keep their bodies functioning under normal circumstances.
In the winter, they suspend the activities in their bodies in a way that allows them to survive but some of them usually lay their eggs on winter so the larvae can hatch by spring.
- Like other animals and insects, flies are also quite weak against the cold. They thrive better under warm temperatures and thus will seek places that are warm to keep their bodies functioning under normal circumstances.
- Light sources
- Flies have a natural attraction towards light because of positive phototaxis, the locomotive movement that occurs when a living being moves closer or further away from a light source. This is because most whole organisms benefit from receiving light through photosynthesis. They may lay eggs inside well lit rooms.
- Other flies or insects
- The presence of your own kind is a good sign to take that you are welcome at that place. When one fly sees another or even a similar insect, it will make it seem as if they are safe around that area.
Some will also intentionally seek companionship from other flies in order to breed.
- The presence of your own kind is a good sign to take that you are welcome at that place. When one fly sees another or even a similar insect, it will make it seem as if they are safe around that area.
- Unkempt rooms
- An unkempt room near your yard is more likely to have unattended food, unnoticed carcasses or feces of small animals that could have been lurking around the room unknowingly and can be a safe resting place for the flies including their eggs if they are about to lay their eggs.
How to get rid of fruit fly eggs
Even if a fly egg is hard to see, you can still spot them. If you suspect that there are fly eggs around, a clean up is necessary.
Throw food that has made contact with fruit flies and clean up objects and areas they landed on.
Here are the steps you can take to get rid of fly eggs.
- Use vacuum
- Start your fly egg clean up by using vacuum to suck out even the smallest particles of dirt. If you don’t have vacuum, simply sweep or wipe the suspected area.
- Sprinkle salt
- You can sprinkle salt on the area where you believe there may be eggs. Fly eggs and maggots can be killed by salt. Leave the salt on for a while.
- Pour boiling water
- Pour boiling water to secure that the area is clean, it will also kill the eggs and maggots.
- Let the area dry
- Wait for the wet area to dry up.
- Finish the clean up with another round of vacuum cleaning.
- Vacuum the area or sweep and wipe it to make sure there are no fly eggs and maggots left behind.
How to get rid of fruit flies
If there are fruit flies lurking around your area, there are plenty of ways that you can use to get rid of them.
The first step to get rid of flies is to keep the area clean. As for fruit flies, they may keep coming back if there are fruit bearing trees that will continuously attract them.
If removing the tree is not an option, you can make use of the following methods to drive them away. Their fast flying speed makes them a hassle to deal with, but these solutions can solve your fly problem.
- Manual Ways to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
- Fly Sprays
- The fly spray repellents can be easily bought from any store so this option is always available for anyone to try.
You can also use the spray on objects like the garbage bin or the wall so the flies would no longer be interested in it. They will start avoiding the areas where you’ve sprayed the fly repellent.
- The fly spray repellents can be easily bought from any store so this option is always available for anyone to try.
- Glue traps
- A glue trap can also be bought from specific stores or you can try to make one by yourself through watching video tutorials online but if you don’t want to, just order it.
This method is easy because you will just lay the trap around the area where the flies are infesting and leave it on.
Eventually, they will land on the trap and become instantly immobilized so when you come back, many of the flies have been eliminated because they can no longer move.
Even if they manage to escape, the sticky substances will probably hinder their ability to fly so you can still catch them.
- A glue trap can also be bought from specific stores or you can try to make one by yourself through watching video tutorials online but if you don’t want to, just order it.
- Electric zappers
- Electric zappers on the other hand may come in several forms. The most common one is the light zapper.
You can install a light bulb that naturally attracts those flies and once they touch the light or get near it, it will zap them with electricity which will get rid of the flies for you.
Flies have a positive phototaxis and that means they are naturally drawn to light because of the benefits that animals get through photosynthesis. Therefore, using a trap related to light can be effective.
Another form of electric zapper is a tennis racket zapper. This is usually used for mosquitoes but it can also work with flies.
Flies are way faster than mosquitoes but if you have one of those rackets and you’re feeling energetic, you can try to catch some of those flies.
- Electric zappers on the other hand may come in several forms. The most common one is the light zapper.
- Fly Sprays
- Natural Ways to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
- Plants
- Flies are actually drawn to certain plants but there are also plants that they avoid. Plants such as Pennyroyal, Basil, Rosemary, Tansy, Bay laurel, Citronella grass and Wormwood release scents that naturally repel flies.
As of today, there is still no clear reason why flies hate those kinds of plants but it might just be about the scent and nothing else complicated.
Venus Flytrap Plants will also keep those flies in check, if you are into raising exotic life. The Venus flytrap owns up to its name and consumes fly for the minerals it can get once the fly decomposes inside the plant’s body.
- Flies are actually drawn to certain plants but there are also plants that they avoid. Plants such as Pennyroyal, Basil, Rosemary, Tansy, Bay laurel, Citronella grass and Wormwood release scents that naturally repel flies.
- Animals
- Flies have predators. If you love raising pets, the wilder or exotic ones such as spiders, frogs, iguanas, chameleons and geckos, you can use that to your advantage.
Take your pet where the flies are and watch them how they catch a fly; it happens within the blink of an eye!
- Flies have predators. If you love raising pets, the wilder or exotic ones such as spiders, frogs, iguanas, chameleons and geckos, you can use that to your advantage.
- Plants
Related Questions
What happens if you accidentally ate a fly egg?
Eating a fly egg often leads to mild food poisoning cases that may result in vomiting, stomachache or diarrhea. However, they still carry a lot of health risks that could become dangerously alarming.
What causes fruit flies?
Fruit flies are caused by available food sources such as overripe fruits or rotting fruits. They are also attracted to other things the common flies are attracted to.
More: “What Causes Fruit Flies“