How To Keep Fruit Flies Out Of Your Louisville Home
We have several fly pests that get into our homes. As you can probably imagine, different flies behave in different ways. These differences are what make fly control more difficult than it really has to be. There are several tiny flies that could create a swarm of flies in your home. When you see little flies everywhere, they aren't necessarily fruit flies. They could be phorid flies or fungus gnats.
If they aren't fruit flies, they're going to behave differently, and you're going to have to use different control methods to deal with them. The same is true of prevention. Let's take a look at what works best to keep fruit flies out of Louisville homes, how to identify fruit flies, and what to do when you see fruit flies everywhere.
Fruit Fly Prevention Tips For Your Home
There are three common flies that create a swarm of flies in Louisville homes. We mentioned them above. These different flies get inside in different ways. Phorid flies fly right in when a door is opened, or they use tiny gaps to get in through your exterior. Fungus flies can get in through entry points, but more commonly they're carried in with potted plants. The eggs in potted soil hatch and in no time your home is filled with tiny flies.
Fruit flies can get in from the outside, but it is more common for these pests to enter homes by hitchhiking. These tiny flies have tiny eggs - eggs that are so small you can't see them with your naked eye. When these eggs come into your home on produce, the temperatures in your home can cause them to hatch a few at a time. This is why you see a few flies one day, a half dozen the next, and fruit flies everywhere by the end of the week.
While fruit flies reproduce quickly, they don't reproduce that quickly. Here are a few tips to help you stop the swarm before it begins:
- When you bring fruit home, consider refrigerating it.
- If you intend to keep fruit out, examine the fruit and cut off wounds that could potentially have eggs. Dispose of these discarded portions outside.
- Store potatoes, and other vegetables that are high in carbohydrates, within sealed plastic bins.
- Clean spills up immediately. A juice spill under your fridge can breed hundreds of flies.
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How To Tell If It's Fruit Flies In Your Home
When you start to see little flies everywhere, how can you tell that they're fruit flies? There are a few ways, such as:
- The common fruit flies that get into Louisville homes are not black flies. They are yellowish-orange flies with red eyes. If you have black flies, they're likely to be phorid flies or fungus gnats.
- If you approach a fly and it runs across a surface, it is probably a phorid fly.
- If the flies in your home are hanging out around potted plants, they're probably fungus gnats.
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Is It Safe To Eat Something A Fruit Fly Has Landed On?
Before we discuss control options, it is important to consider the health implications of having fruit flies in your home. It has been determined that fruit flies are able to pick up microorganisms, such as salmonella, and transport them. But, being tiny flies, they're not going to move a lot of harmful bacteria around.
In most cases, fruit flies are considered a low public health risk. It is only when there are lots of flies and lots of dirty locations for these flies to breed and feed that the health risks become a concern. This should not be the case in your home. If a fruit fly lands on your food, you can probably eat it, but we wouldn't recommend doing this often.
