Blackflies in the kitchen! Who are they and how to get rid of them

The bad news: midges in the kitchen during the week can multiply to several hundred. Good news: Drosophila, which is also called the fruit or fruit midge, is the most innocuous species - they do not bite, do not tolerate infection and can be easily removed at home.

Where do the black flies in the kitchen come from, these little annoying pests? There are only three possible answers:

  • They flew from the street to the smell of some stale fragrant or spoiled product.
  • Blackfly eggs come to your kitchen with purchased fruits or vegetables.
  • They started in the soil of indoor plants due to waterlogging or due to standing on the balcony, the street, near the open window. If you have noticed that insects hover in flower pots, then it can be either all the same “fruktovki”, or flower flies (sciarides). How to distinguish them? Flower midges look more like black mosquitoes, and fruit - like small flies. You can see the difference in the photo below. If you understand that it is fruitflies that have started in the flower pots in the kitchen, then this article is for you, and if you find sciarides, look in a separate article with detailed instructions.

Types of midges that may appear in the kitchen

Since midges are not only flying adults, but also voracious larvae and eggs, the fight against them should be complex. Read how to get rid of black flies in the kitchen in our step-by-step instructions.

How to get rid of fruit (fruit) midges

Step 1. Find and eliminate the source of the appearance of midges

To get rid of eggs, you need to find the source of breeding and feeding of the flies, and then close it in a bag and immediately take it out of the house. As is known, fruit midges lay eggs in fruits and vegetables, but not only! Any place where there is food and moisture can attract insects. In general, if you can’t find the source, search for it in non-obvious places. Here are some search tips:

  • If you keep compost for houseplants in the kitchen, then you should look at it.
  • When was the last time you washed the garbage can? Even if you regularly throw a bag of garbage, the container itself can be a source of problems.
  • Vinegar, beer and wine also attract insects. Think maybe an open bottle with a smelling liquid could be lying somewhere?
  • Mushrooms, cereals and cheeses are far from fruits and vegetables, but even the midges do not hesitate.
  • A clogged kitchen sink is another potential breeding ground for insects.
  • Look for stale wet sponges, rags or a mop.
  • Sometimes a sweet liquid that has numbed into the basement of a headset, kitchen drawer, under a fridge or other places can be the cause of the blackflies.

Step 2. Hide and close all products.

Now you should hide all the products in the kitchen to deprive the fruit flies food and breeding grounds.

  • Fruits, vegetables, jams, sweets and other delicacies of black flies hide in the refrigerator or close in tight-fitting containers. Do not leave ripe fruit outside the refrigerator until the problem is resolved.

Theoretically, this measure may be enough for the midges to die, but this process will take from 10 days (in the warm season) and 2.5 months to winter time. Therefore, to get rid of the black flies in the kitchen quickly, you need to set traps.

See also the material: How to store fruit at home - general principles, a memo and photo ideas.

Step 3. We set traps

Traps with funnels and baits - this is a simple folk method that works at 100%. The principle of operation is simple - the flies are lured into a container with a small hole with the smell of bait, and can no longer fly back. Leaving such a trap in the kitchen in the evening, in the morning you will find a whole swarm of insects inside it.

How to make a trap:

  1. Take a glass jar, vase or any other container with high walls and place / pour bait on its bottom, for example:
  • Berries or a slice of fruit, say, a pear or a banana.
  • A couple of spoons of jam.
  • A little apple cider vinegar.
  1. Sheet A4 or any other paper twist into a cone, fasten the tip with scotch tape and, if necessary, cut it, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar. By the way, the most effective trap will turn out of yellow or orange paper, which seems to citrus to the midges - the safest delicacy from their enemies.

Fruit Fly Trap

Fruit Fly Trap


  1. Put one or a couple of such traps in high-risk areas - for example, near the sink, trash can, flowerpot, if fruit flies are bred there.
  2. After a few hours, pour warm soapy water into the jar (without removing the funnel!) To drown the caught insects. Hold the solution in a jar for a couple of minutes, and then pour the contents.
  3. If you can’t catch all the fruit flies at once, repeat the procedure until the trap is empty. In addition, we recommend repeating the procedure after 8-10 days after a positive result, because of the remaining eggs somewhere can grow a "new generation" of midges.

The photo below shows other types of traps with the same principle of operation. As you can see, instead of a paper funnel, you can use a kitchen funnel or a food wrap holed with a toothpick (a plastic bag will fit too).

Blackfly Trap Types

By the way, both the can and the funnel can be made from a plastic bottle. To do this, it should be cut into two parts, so that the part with the neck was shorter, then insert the resulting funnel into the jar with the neck down and for reliability, seal the trap with tape as shown in the photo below.

Plastic bottle black fly trap

And a bit about prevention

Note the following tips for preventing the reappearance of fruit blackflies in the kitchen:

  • Keep your food closed, or better in the fridge.
  • Try to throw garbage every day, especially if you throw out the bones and bits of fruit or vegetables. Also, do not forget to wash the garbage bin itself once a week, and in the summer at all, 2 times a week.
  • In due time get rid of other potential breeding centers of fruit flies. Old sponges, rags, wet mops and any other items you use for cleaning may contain midge eggs. Throw them away or wash them in the washing machine in hot wash mode.
  • Clean the sink regularly.

other methods

Ethyl alcohol 70 or 90% will help to quickly kill the midges. To do this, you need to fill it with a spray bottle and sprinkle it directly on flying flies. Adult fruit flies will instantly fall to the floor and you will only have to sweep the floor. This method is good because alcohol is a safer "insecticide" than special tools, besides, it can kill eggs.


And what if the midges in the kitchen bred in the sink? You can check whether it is the spawning ground of the fruit fly like this: glue a piece of cling film covered with a thin layer of honey to the sink, and then return to the sink in an hour. If you see that fruit flies are stuck in honey, then your washing is part of the problem. To eliminate it, make sure that the drain is working properly, and then pour boiling soap solution into it. Finally, use a brush to clean out the drain walls.

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