# Fruit flies - getting rid of



## Crunchie (Jan 14, 2006)

And before anyone asks yes I have used the search function! 

Lately I've had masses of fruit flies using my millipede tank as a breeding ground. I recently moved the millipedes from a glass aquarium to a large plastic storage box with holes drilled in. Since the plastic insulates the soil and keeps it humid (I only made a small no of air-holes) the fruit flies have moved in. Previously when this has happened I simply stopped feeding the millipedes fruit but this time they seem to be getting worse. When I open my millipedes cage there are around 30 in sight and when you look in my room there are always at least 10 buzzing about.

I've tried making alcohol traps
I've tried buryingthe millipedes food under the soil
I've tried fly strips

but I just can't get rid of them all! Anyone have any suggestions?

I was thinking of changing the substrate in my millipede tank as despite having around 30 tanks in my room these are the only ones that stay humid enough for the flies. If I did this would I perhaps be able to cover the air holes with something like cloth so air can still get in but the flies can't? don't really want to change all the substrate again right enough but I'm at my wits end!


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## dehaani (Oct 16, 2006)

Ok, old thread resurrection!

I got my first fruit fly culture a couple of days ago... Never again!

Anyone got ideas on getting rid of these things? :wall:


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## mindlessvw (Oct 16, 2006)

i used the fly strip method and removed anything they would want to breed in(dirty dishes, empty cans, anything moist) also they seem to like drains like in your bathtub so make sure there aren't any there...mostly you can cut down the population but not completely destroy it...but it helps if you keep really really clean cages and change substrate alot...


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## cacoseraph (Oct 16, 2006)

this isn't about getting rid of them, per se... but you can make larger air holes, then glue some kind of fine mesh cloth over the holes. 

if the airholes are in any conceivable reach of the millies then you need to look up what the durable metal cloth stuff is... but if they are in a completely accessable spot i imagine you could get away with "normal" cloth.

the premise is that you insanely reduce the amount of access the flies have to the cage.

this won't get rid of them, in and of itself... but it cuts down where they can run and hide, both ways, and could be a help to you

p.s. i have never done this myself


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## mindlessvw (Oct 16, 2006)

that actually sounds like a very good idea!!!


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## sick4x4 (Oct 16, 2006)

chewing tobacco...usually kills them right away


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## dymndgyrl (Oct 16, 2006)

What do you do with the chewing tobacco??


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## 236260 (Oct 17, 2006)

I once asked that question about a suppository. Live and learn.


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## LaRiz (Oct 17, 2006)

This is what I just did yesterday...I give them what they want, sorta.  I take a deli cup and put holes in it.  Not too many now, and about 1/16" of an inch in size (typical air hole).  Then I put in a piece of a banana (oils of the banana are strong and travel a long way to a fruit fly I guess) and snap on the lid.  Place it where you have most of the flies hovering about.  Come back a bunch of hours later and they'll be all inside the deli with the banana.
When you walk up on it, (they're too stupid to fly out the holes to get away from you) you should fine a whole trapped bunch.  Quick stick the deli in a ziplock type baggie and simply discard at your discretion (freeze 'em).  I just did this yesterday and it worked for me.
john


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## Galapoheros (Oct 17, 2006)

I recently discovered a very small insect that kills and eats mites and I'm thinking they may to the same to fruit fly larvae.  I just don't know yet.  If you want to see them, I posted a pic in the recent "mite" thread.  They are only about 2 mm long.  I really think they can be very useful.  I just don't know if they might have any neg affects.  I think the good milli mites are way to big for these and they stay on the milli anyway, right?  I haven't seen these little insects actually get on any of my animals.  There's allot I don't know about them.  Something to think about.


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## KevinsWither (Nov 10, 2014)

Try a venus fly trap near the milipede enclosure.


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## mukmewx (Nov 11, 2014)

KevinsWither said:


> Try a venus fly trap near the milipede enclosure.


You do realize the last post was over 8 years ago, right? lol


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## Akai (Nov 12, 2014)

KevinsWither said:


> Try a venus fly trap near the milipede enclosure.


Despite being an 8 year old thread, if you were going to go the carnivorous plant route, a sundew would be far more efficient then a venus fly trap.  Fruit flies are too tiny to set off the venus and if they did, they would just crawl right out.


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## The Snark (Nov 12, 2014)

Well, if you are really desperate to get rid of fruit flies. Obtain a large bowl. Install some over ripe bananas in bowl. Take a colander a little smaller than the larger bowl. Paint with any sticky substance inside and out. I've used pancake syrup, honey, molasses and sweetened condensed milk. Place inverted in large bowl. Agitate large bowl, bang on it once or twice, every few hours. Every 24 hours remove colander quickly and cover bowl completely with a dinner plate or similar, wash sticky and dead fruit flies off, recoat and put back over the bananas. After rot sets in big time, change the bananas if you still have FFs.

Reactions: Like 1


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## CrawlinChaos (Nov 12, 2014)

Just for grins, since this thread has been raised from the dead, I'll throw in my two cents. A method I found that works pretty well is to take a shallow bowl, mix apple cider vinegar (you could probably use anything fruity smelling, like OJ or apple juice) and water, add a few drops of dish soap, stir to suspend the soap and set the bowl out near where ever the fruit flies are coming from. The flies will be attracted to the fruity smell and when they land on the surface of the water, the soap will have greatly reduced the surface tension and they'll sink and drown.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## sschind (Nov 27, 2014)

CrawlinChaos said:


> Just for grins, since this thread has been raised from the dead, I'll throw in my two cents. A method I found that works pretty well is to take a shallow bowl, mix apple cider vinegar (you could probably use anything fruity smelling, like OJ or apple juice) and water, add a few drops of dish soap, stir to suspend the soap and set the bowl out near where ever the fruit flies are coming from. The flies will be attracted to the fruity smell and when they land on the surface of the water, the soap will have greatly reduced the surface tension and they'll sink and drown.


This method works very well.  It may help to cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it for the flies to get inas well.  It may not be needed but it will help keep the smell down (for you, the flies will still find it) and it will help keep evaporation down.

Another point is to make sure you have fruit flies and not phorid flies.  The look similar but the phorid flies are usually a bit bigger and they flit about in very jerky movements and don't really fly very far before settling down again.  They also run very fast.


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## Joseph Marsala (May 26, 2018)

sschind said:


> This method works very well.  It may help to cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it for the flies to get inas well.  It may not be needed but it will help keep the smell down (for you, the flies will still find it) and it will help keep evaporation down.
> 
> Another point is to make sure you have fruit flies and not phorid flies.  The look similar but the phorid flies are usually a bit bigger and they flit about in very jerky movements and don't really fly very far before settling down again.  They also run very fast.


Any updates on this lol

Reactions: Like 1


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