3 Reasons Why You Should Worry About Fruit Flies At Home

Fruit flies are one small fly type that does not bite and spread disease directly, just like mosquitoes. However, are fruit flies harmful to human health? The answer is yes.

Fruit flies, or the Latin name Drosophila melanogaster, are one type of fly that is very unsettling for every homeowner. How come? Flying insects can carry harmful pathogens and bacteria on their bodies and easily deliver these harmful microorganisms to food and surfaces to be consumed or touched by humans.

They reproduce quickly, and it takes only 7 days for fruit flies to complete their life cycle from eggs to adult flies. This is why fruit flies can become a real disorder if they are not controlled by their populations immediately by trained professional fly removal services that provide effective solutions for each of your fly problems.

Rentokil summarise three reasons why you should worry about the presence of fruit flies in your home so that you can properly manage them.

1. Fruit flies in the bathroom drain

Why are there so many fruit flies in the bathroom?

Bathroom drains or floor drains in multi-story buildings such as hotels or apartments are often faced with fruit fly issues due to the fact that a drain pipe installation connects from floor to floor.

So if the water flow is slow because it is clogged by organic waste, it is not impossible if this is the main reason many fruit flies are found to feed and multiply there.

Bathroom drains provide food sources for decaying organic waste and are preferred residences for some types of small flies, such as fruit flies or waste flies.

When looking for breeding sites, fruit fly larvae can only survive in decaying, moist organic matter. Not only that, every stage of fruit fly life (from larvae to adult fruit flies) is highly dependent on decaying organic matter to complete the fly’s life cycle perfectly.

Why should I worry about fruit flies in drains?

Fruit flies may feed and breed in the bathroom drain, but that doesn’t mean they’re reluctant to fly and land on your food, like fresh fruit on the dining table or kitchen.

Fruit flies are also often found resting on various items in the bathroom, such as towels or toothbrushes. Please be aware that anything touched by these small fruit flies is at risk of breeding unwanted bacteria.

So, if your toothbrush has become a preferred resting place for fruit flies in the bathroom, it’s not impossible if contamination risks occur when the toothbrush touches your mouth!

2. Fruit flies in the kitchen area

Why are there so many fruit flies in the kitchen?

The kitchen is another very interesting place for fruit flies to visit while in your home. This is because there are many fruit fly foods, such as overcooked fruits and vegetables and condiments such as vinegar, that are among the fruit fly’s favourite foods.

In addition to being known to be feedstock to be processed, fruit flies are also often found in cookware, drinking water bottles, and small boxes where food is being drained in the kitchen.

Why should I worry about fruit flies in the kitchen?

Not only will small fruit flies interfere with every activity or food preparation process in the kitchen, but they also have the potential to contaminate food that will be consumed by bacteria carried by the body.

Because fruit flies are synonymous with feeding and breeding in dirty areas such as trash cans, they can easily transport harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli to be transmitted to humans.

The spread of these bacteria often starts when fruit flies contaminate many things in the kitchen, such as food being left open and cookware being washed clean by you in the kitchen.

3. Fruit flies near food and beverages

Why do so many fruit flies interfere with your meal time?

What happens if you have to deal with a fruit fly that flies over and arrives near you and is just about to start breakfast on a piece of bread in the morning? You certainly understand how annoying it is to stop the first bite on your bread and start trying to repel fruit flies far away from you.

Did you know that the fermented yeast on a slice of bread that makes your breakfast is one of the foods that fruit flies like? But now the question is: Would you be willing to share your breakfast with a fruit fly?

Why should I worry about fruit flies flying into food and beverages?

Even though fruit flies are quite small, they have a sharp enough sense of smell for a flying insect to pick up the scent of glycerol or glycerin, which is a natural fermentation process in white bread, many kilometers away.

In addition to bread, there are several other fermentation products commonly consumed by humans that have been found to be the preferred foods for fruit flies, such as alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine and syrups produced through the fermentation process.

How do I prevent fruit flies at home?

Having a clean habit that you regularly work on is the best way to prevent fruit flies from coming to your place.

Some of the ways that Rentokil recommends to help you prevent fruit flies at home include:

1. Clean bathrooms and drains regularly
2. Ensuring that waste is properly managed by tying plastic waste and disposing of trash before evening
3. Keep food in a sealed container, and close food tightly at the dining table when it has not been eaten so that it is not covered by flies
4. Keep the dining table and kitchen surfaces clean by always cleaning up spilled drinks and food crumbs on the table

Although some of the prevention methods above can be used to reduce the problem of lots of flies at home, the best long-term solution to removing house flies is to seek professional fly removal assistance.

As a professional fly removal service in Indonesia, Rentokil offers a range of effective fly control solutions, including our innovative, modern, and energy-efficient fruit fly trap solutions.

Contact Rentokil for a professional fly control solution today!