# Fruit fly invasion **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995 "2018-04-23T19:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/1 "2018-04-23T19:27:36Z")
Last couple of months I have been bothered with what i think are fruit flies. The problem started when my girlfriend switched to drinking beer and the recycle bag stays in the kitchen. I looked up the lifecycle on the fruit flies and the best I can determine if I change the bag at least once a week they should not have time to complete a life cycle. This is my second week and they seem to be as bas as ever. If I just keep changing this bag and there are no other sources I can identify can I expect them to soon disappear? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/2 "2018-04-23T19:41:02Z")
Or you could just rinse out the beer bottle/can with tap water when you finish it… ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/3 "2018-04-23T19:43:54Z")
You can make an easy trap to catch them without using sprays. Cut a plastic bottle in half and invert the top half. Then put some vinegar in it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/4 "2018-04-23T19:48:12Z")
Yeah, we always use some sort of apple cider vinegar trap that does the job. Small glass of it with a piece of plastic wrap over the top (hold with rubber band) and a hole cut into it. They’re attracted in and can’t get out. I believe you can also just use an open glass of vinegar with a drop of dish soap or something to weaken the surface tension and help them fall in and drown but we always do the previous method. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/5 "2018-04-23T19:56:36Z")
I baited my trap with a pink wine and didn’t catch anything. I will try the vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/6 "2018-04-23T20:36:27Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I baited my trap with a pink wine and didn’t catch anything. I will try the vinegar. Plus, the fruit flies couldn’t make it into the trap, because it was full of twenty-something women. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/7 "2018-04-23T20:53:24Z")
The one time we had a fruit fly invasion, we used diluted fruity smelling shampoo in a bowl on the kitchen counter. No need for plastic wrap. The flies land on the liquid and are trapped. Took about 3-4 days to get almost all of them. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/8 "2018-04-23T22:08:04Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The one time we had a fruit fly invasion, we used diluted fruity smelling shampoo in a bowl on the kitchen counter. No need for plastic wrap. The flies land on the liquid and are trapped. Took about 3-4 days to get almost all of them. They do seem to be hanging out near the shampoo bottles in the bathroom. I will try that. So far nothing in my vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/9 "2018-04-23T22:52:40Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > They do seem to be hanging out near the shampoo bottles in the bathroom. I will try that. So far nothing in my vinegar. If they are in the bathroom, they may be drain flies rather than fruit flies, the are hard to tell apart because they are all so tiny. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/10 "2018-04-24T00:36:43Z")
hope its not fruit flies … here in ca its war if any are found … your supposed to let agencies know … and then they spray whether you want them to or not … then they do tests and studies … you cant eat your fruit anymore its a hassle … ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/11 "2018-04-24T05:55:35Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > hope its not fruit flies … here in ca its war if any are found … your supposed to let agencies know … and then they spray whether you want them to or not … then they do tests and studies … you cant eat your fruit anymore > > its a hassle … Only certain fruit flies are targeted, there are many fruit flies not considered a major agricultural threat. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/12 "2018-04-24T06:01:42Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > If they are in the bathroom, they may be drain flies rather than fruit flies, the are hard to tell apart because they are all so tiny. Bathroom and kitchen sink are the main places I see them. We don’t have any drain that is not used daily. I would think any bugs in the trap would get pushed right through. We skip a daily shower now and then but I doubt the drain in the tub ever goes 48 hours without water running through it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-fly-invasion/812995/13 "2018-04-24T06:15:01Z")
i think I just found the source, I tore apart the cabinet we keep onions and potatoes in that also holds pots and pans. A bag with a few onions in it had worked it way to the back and was rotting. I also found 2 small potatoes that were rotting and had been pushed to the back of the cabinet. Hopefully this was it. My traps caught nothing. It didn’t seem to attract them so I am thinking drain flies.