| Appearance |
 Tan
brown with red eyes;
1/8-inch. |
| Habitat |
|
Fruit flies are attracted primarily
to fresh fruits
and vegetables, although any freshly decaying, moist organic matter
will do.
Once indoors, fruit flies can find and exploit other potential breeding
sites
such as poorly maintained trash containers, recycling bins, mop heads,
garbage
disposals, etc. They may also be found breeding in dumpsters outside
and flying
into the building through doorways. Because of their small size, many
species
are able to penetrate ordinary screens. |
| Diet |
| Ripened fruit or vegetables, or any
other fermenting
products. |
| Control |
The key to controlling fruit flies is finding the
breeding sites and removing them by cleaning thoroughly. Some breeding
sites
will be obvious, like ripened fruit, while others, such a food kicked
under a
cabinet, may be easily overlooked. The inspection needs to focus on
finding all
sites where moist organic matter has accumulated and then removing that
matter
completely. Often in homes, fruit flies are carried in on bananas and
when the
bananas are removed, the presence of flies disappears within a few days. It is also advissable to empty all trash receptacles daily, until control is achieved.
|
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