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Fruit Fly

Name: Fruit Fly

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Diptera

Family: Drosophilidae

Habitat:

Most species breed in various kinds of decaying plant and fungal material, including fruit, bark, slime fluxes, flowers, and mushrooms. Anywhere fruit is decaying. They are very apparent where fruit has fallen and rotted. Sometimes big clouds of fruit flies will rise in the air when you disturb them. They also like glasses of fruit juice or wine and can be seen buzzing a glassful, or floating on the surface.

Food:

Adults feed on decaying fruit and other decaying food matter, as well as they drink nectar or other sugary solutions in ponds, marshes or swamps. Larvae feed on yeast growing on the surfaces of healthy and decaying, fermenting fruits.

Method of Travel:

The wings of a fly are capable of beating at up to 220 times per second.

Prevention:

  • Dispose of fruits, vegetables and other foods before they become overripe and begin to decay; store cooked foods swiftly and appropriately; seal all stored foods in containers with air-tight lids. But even when practicing prevention, fruit flies will sometimes maintain a consistent presence in our homes.

Steps to control:

  • Remove the food sources attracting the flies. Fruit flies have a life-cycle of 10 days giving them plenty of time to punish you for leaving moist, fermenting, organic material in which they may lay eggs. Most fly trap ideas only serve to illustrate the flies’ progress in taking over your home, and some will themselves provide a breeding ground. Sanitation is the only effective resolution! Address these frequent problem spots: Wash all dishes. Clear the drains. Launder the dishrags, or at least wash them thoroughly with soap, rinse them well and wring them dry before hanging them up. Don’t leave them in the sink.
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