# little critters hovering around fruit: what are they?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 6, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086 "2008-08-06T21:30:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/1 "2008-08-06T21:30:03Z")
So here I am in my kitchen cutting up a pineapple and I notice these teeny, tinny little critters hovering slowly over my bananas. Later on I spot them over the fresh pineapple after a few minutes. What are these things? How did they ever get into my house (screens on all the windows and doors)? What business do they have with my fruit? If they eat the fruit, how do they survive when I didn’t have any left out on the counter or in a basket for several weeks?
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### Author:  [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/2 "2008-08-06T21:30:59Z")
They are fruit flies.
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/3 "2008-08-06T22:12:09Z")
[QUOTE=ntcrawler]
So here I am in my kitchen cutting up a pineapple and I notice these teeny, tinny little critters hovering slowly over my bananas. Later on I spot them over the fresh pineapple after a few minutes. What are these things? How did they ever get into my house (screens on all the windows and doors)? What business do they have with my fruit? If they eat the fruit, how do they survive when I didn’t have any left out on the counter or in a basket for several weeks?
[/QUOTE]
_Drosophila melanogaster._
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/4 "2008-08-06T22:14:52Z")
Oh…and if you’ve gone this far in life with out ever seeing one of the little [effwords](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster), consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky.
They also use 'em a lot in genetics because they have a butt load of different traits and reproduce in a decent enough amount of time and because they are so gross.
AND…they prolly hitched a ride from your local grocer on the fruit itself…
If you’re a wino, like myself, I suggest making sure you cork 'em tight! Wine and vinegar are like their kryptonite. They end up drowning in it and ruining your fun.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/5 "2008-08-06T22:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=SharkB8]
Oh…and if you’ve gone this far in life with out ever seeing one of the little [effwords](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster), consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky.
They also use 'em a lot in genetics because they have a butt load of different traits and reproduce in a decent enough amount of time and because they are so gross.
AND…they prolly hitched a ride from your local grocer on the fruit itself…
If you’re a wino, like myself, I suggest making sure you cork 'em tight! Wine and vinegar are like their kryptonite. They end up drowning in it and ruining your fun.
[/QUOTE]
Or, you could pour a little kryptonite in a cup and send them on their way in style.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/6 "2008-08-06T22:34:19Z")
And I just discovered that they don’t just hover around fruit. They also hover around a brown puddle from rotten potatoes on an out-of-the-way shelf that I hadn’t checked in a while. Then I noticed one of the cats swatting at them.
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/7 "2008-08-06T22:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=panache45]
And I just discovered that they don’t just hover around fruit. They also hover around a brown puddle from rotten potatoes on an out-of-the-way shelf that I hadn’t checked in a while. Then I noticed one of the cats swatting at them.
[/QUOTE]
And sometimes on the bathroom mirror? Anyone else notice that? When we first moved into our house, I went in the bathroom and turned on the sink and like 6 fruit flies flew out before the water did and Hindenburged around for a few minutes before coming to rest on the mirror. Can’t really explain that one.
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/8 "2008-08-06T23:35:50Z")
Vain little buggers.
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### Author:  [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/9 "2008-08-07T00:13:21Z")
[QUOTE=SharkB8]
And sometimes on the bathroom mirror? Anyone else notice that? When we first moved into our house, I went in the bathroom and turned on the sink and like 6 fruit flies flew out before the water did and Hindenburged around for a few minutes before coming to rest on the mirror. Can’t really explain that one.
[/QUOTE]
Ask the male residents of your household to kindly stop peeing in the sink.
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### Author:  [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/10 "2008-08-07T00:36:13Z")
Gross… But do they eat the fruit, or are they just attracted to fruit and rotting veggies the way other bugs are attracted to the porch light on my garage?
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/11 "2008-08-07T00:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=Magiver]
Or, you could pour a little kryptonite in a cup and send them on their way in style.
[/QUOTE]
Ah yes…the ol’ cider vinegar in a shallow bowl trick…that was my mom’s weapon of choice.
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/12 "2008-08-07T01:04:00Z")
[QUOTE=ntcrawler]
Gross… But do they eat the fruit, or are they just attracted to fruit and rotting veggies the way other bugs are attracted to the porch light on my garage?
[/QUOTE]
I’m not certain if they eat the fruit, but skimming [this page](http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef621.asp) it says they’re attracted to ripened and rotting fruits/veggies…
Maybe a bug dude will come along and correct me, but maybe to the ethanol, is it? And I think maybe since they have such a short lifespan, their main urge is to find a nice food source for their maggots to eat so they can lay their eggs.
Hang on…
…
…
Okay, I’m back…had to go upchuck.
Other bugs like lights because they’re dumb…er than Drosophila.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/13 "2008-08-07T01:17:00Z")
On a side note, I’ve thought for a while now that Melanogaster would make a great name for a wizard, and Drosophila likewise for a witch.
And now I’m completely befuddled by the fact that the Firefox spellchecker recognizes the latter, but not the former.
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### Author:  [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/14 "2008-08-07T01:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos]
On a side note, I’ve thought for a while now that Melanogaster would make a great name for a wizard, and Drosophila likewise for a witch.
And now I’m completely befuddled by the fact that the Firefox spellchecker recognizes the latter, but not the former.
[/QUOTE]
No lie, my boyfriend suggested the same thing a while back for a villain!
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-critters-hovering-around-fruit-what-are-they/459086/15 "2008-08-07T04:53:45Z")
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.