Pesty fruit flies may be springing up in more Maine homes

6:57 PM, Oct 28, 2013   |    comments
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ORONO, Maine (NEWS CENTER) --- If you enjoy eating apples bananas or oranges then you've probably seen them at some point. Fruit flies are a common pest that can be a nuisance in your kitchen, and this year experts say they could be popping up in more homes in the state.

Jim Dill is a pest management specialist with the University of Maine's Cooperative Extension. He says his office has already taken many complaints from people dealing with fruit flies. The small flies can grow out of, feed from and reproduce using your over-ripe fruit. That is the fruit is left out of the fridge too long.

Dill says it is not clear why fruit flies are more of an issue this year. He says they can also grow by feeding off of stuff in your sink drain. Dill says if the flies breed down there they can be that much harder to get rid of.

"The best way is if you got em is remove all that host material..and go ahead and trap them" Dill said, "and you can just make a homemade fruit fly trap or you can by commercially available fruit fly traps...either one will work well...and eventually over the course of a couple weeks you'll get rid of them all."

Making a fruit fly trap is pretty simple. All you need is a container, some paper to make a funnel and a little apple cider vinegar. Once the flies get lured in they usually can't get out. Then all you have to do is close the bottle and shake it.


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