Quote:
Originally Posted by speeder
(Post 10484777)
So you leave some orange peels in the trash and you suddenly have fruit flies. Do they somehow spring from the orange peel or banana peel, or do they smell it from down the street and book it over to my place?
Stuff like this keeps me up at night. :cool:
|
Banana peels will attract flies, or more commonly known as gnats. And, yes, they seem to come out of nowhere. They aren't truly the 'fruit flies" that our state is seriously worried about. All the same, you ought to make a call to the County and set some out in a jar to be examined by someone from vector control, just to be sure and help out the community. Back yard citrus is a key objective right now and has been for the last few years. There is a quarantine in place in several local counties.
The vinegar thing works because over ripe fruit produces a low level vinegar smell (that we may perceive as slightly sweet) that attracts these flies from outside. They are literally everywhere and can lay 100's of eggs that hatch within hours.
Honestly, I would just refrain from having fruit outside the fridge and wipe down the kitchen with a vinegar solution as it's a very good cleaning agent in its own right. While the insects are attracted to the vinegar scent, they can't survive the contact.
Moisture plays a big role in this as well. Say you live in a small place and the shower raises the humidity level considerably, even temporarily, this is conducive to a fly infestation. Even the drying towels on the rack aren't good for the situation.
Case in point: do you see this in the winter when heating the place?
|
