A pest doesn’t need to bite, crawl, or sting to be very annoying, a truth borne out by the tiny fruit fly. These airborne nuisances irritate you while preparing or eating food.

Fruit flies can also act as disease vectors. Despite their miniature appearance, they need to be controlled and eliminated in the home.

There are a few things you can do to prevent attracting them in the first place and tips to trap the ones that make it into your kitchen despite your best efforts. Let’s take a deeper look into what fruit flies are like to learn how to get rid of them.

What do Fruit Flies like to Eat?

Fruit flies are drawn to moisture and rotting food, which explains their fondness for partially clogged kitchen drains and unsealed garbage bins. If you keep a green bin with organic waste, this is also red meat for a fruit fly.

Fruit flies are also drawn to ripened or fermenting food, which explains why they become such a problem during summer and fall. Prevention is the first phase of fruit fly control, and there are a few things you can do around the home to stop encouraging fruit flies to enter.

Ways to Avoid Attracting Fruit Flies

Storing fruit in the fridge in the hot summer is helpful because it keeps the food cold and dry. Fermenting food is like a magnet for fruit flies!

Don’t just empty your garbage and organic food bin; clean them! There’s often a thin film of organic debris that leaks out of the bags, and the bin itself could be an attractant. Keep them clean, and fruit flies won’t seek them out.

Clean your mop and brooms, so you don’t accidentally spread bacteria throughout your home as you clean. Wring the mop out after using it, or the remaining moisture could attract fruit flies.

While you may not be able to see the inside walls of your pipes, they contain bits of food that might attract flies. Occasionally, run some hot water down the pipes to clean them off. Ensure the pipes are properly attached so there’s no leakage, as moisture can also be an attractant.

Call in the Professionals

If you have exhausted all the above methods and there are still fruit flies in your kitchen, it’s time to call the leading professional pest control services in Toronto and the GTA.

Sure, you could try the DIY fruit fly trap involving placing Saran wrap with tiny holes punctured by a knife over a glass filled with wine, so the flies get drawn inside where they get trapped. Yes, you’ll see some flies at the bottom of the glass. But this won’t address the root of the problem, and they’ll only keep coming.

You can try similar style traps using different baits, like apple cider vinegar or even milk. These approaches are limited, and they can breed prolifically in the meantime.

Fruit flies only need a moist film of fermented material. Then they’ll lay up to 500 eggs in or near damaged or over-ripened fruit. It’s wiser to approach fighting off fruit flies by letting the pros handle it before their numbers become overwhelming.

Our GreenLeaf Pest Control experts will inspect your premises and find the source of the attractant and remove it so they don’t breed anymore. Spraying insecticide or using however many traps won’t uproot the problem. The leading pest control in Mississauga can make the problem go away quickly and thoroughly, so it never reappears.

House Flies

The fruit fly is far from the only type of fly out there. For example, house flies are also attracted to food and sweet beverages lying around. Don’t leave decaying fruit around, or they’ll start reproducing quickly!

Preventing house flies from entering your home is nearly impossible, but there are some ways to prevent them from rapidly breeding. Many of the above measures to prevent attracting fruit flies work just as well for house flies — wipe counters, don’t leave food around, and take your garbage out regularly.

However, unlike the fruit fly, house flies can bite. For house fly control you can depend on, call GreenLeaf Pest Control. Your traps and fly swatter can’t get to them all, so let the seasoned experts uproot the problem from the source.

Home Protection Plan

The GreenLeaf Pest Control Home Protection Plan is designed to proactively prevent a fruit fly infestation from occurring or that of any other pest. Our specialists will arrive at your home to inspect for signs of a current infestation or the potential site of a future one.

We’ll remove the attractants right away and give an effective chemical treatment to exterminate whatever pest may be on the scene. Afterwards, our technicians will revisit your home to ensure that all the pests remain gone. If somehow there are still any left, we’ll eliminate them free of charge.

Such an approach ensures your home remains pest-free 12 months a year. The only thing better than eradicating a pest infestation is preventing one from ever taking root in your home.

Friendly, Professional Technicians

The last thing anybody needs when dealing with a pest infestation is yet one more unwelcome creature in their home! GreenLeaf Pest Control is a local, family-owned business. We know who we’re sending into your house personally and always stress professional and friendly service.

You wouldn’t let just anybody into your home, and we wouldn’t send just anybody into it. For the friendliest and most professional pest control in Newmarket and the GTA, call GreenLeaf Pest Control.

Fruit flies are not on anybody’s top ten list of the most deadly predators. Still, they can spread diseases, so eliminating them promotes good health. On a more fundamental level, they’re unpleasant and unwelcoming. Nobody wants to hang out for a long time in a room swarming with these little nuisances darting around their plates and glasses. For a safe, thorough, and professional fruit fly extermination, call GreenLeaf Pest Control today.