Control Fruit Flies in your Home or Business
Frequently Asked Questions
Fruit Flies in Auckland are primarily found in kitchens hanging around the sink or rubbish bin. They are a problem in most kitchens at one time or another. They usually don’t become a significant problem and can be resolved with minimal effort. For example, doing things such as keeping kitchen drains and rubbish bin areas clean. However, EcoSan Solutions has seen many situations where fruit flies get out of control and become very difficult to get rid of. Sometimes numbers of this fly can increase dramatically, working their way into many different areas of the building, infesting kitchens, lunchrooms, office areas, and multiple floors and apartments of residential complexes.
Although this is a very small fly, they can cause considerable annoyance, pestering staff in commercial kitchens, office workers, and clients. They often swarm people at desks when opening snacks or their lunch. They can also fly in people’s faces as they are attracted to the light emitted from computer screens.
The fruit fly family
Fruit flies are in the same family as Mosquitos. They don’t bite but can come in vast numbers if they have the opportunity to thrive.
Red Eye Fruit Fly or the Common Fruit Fly is shaped with a similar profile to the common housefly but is much smaller at just 3.18 mm long. Often hanging around food sources such as empty wine bottles in the rubbish bin, around rubbish collection areas, and around drains in the kitchen.
Black Eye Fruit Fly, also known as Phorids, shares a similar body shape as the red eye but is slightly larger at about 4.78 mm. They possess a more robust upper body shape. Characteristically they are more active in comparison to the Common Fruit Fly. They will be in your face when you break open your lunch before you can take a bite. When they can establish themselves, they can nest in buildings in much larger numbers than the Common Fruit Fly, which tend to remain more localised and more docile. The black eye fruitfly, in comparison, will spread throughout a building.
Drain Fly (Psychodidae) Less likely to be confused with a fruit fly, they can be found in similar locations. They are around 5mm in size at their largest, making them the biggest of the three flies. They can have a slightly fluffy appearance due to tiny hairs on their body.
Fruit Fly Treatment methods
Insecticide Residual treatments
The flies mentioned above are the most resistant to insecticide sprays and residuals of all flies, which we usually deal with. The Black Eye Fruit Fly will see almost no decline after spraying insecticides. This can apply to both fly spray cans to industrial residual and knockdown treatment.
It is important to bring the target under control in the early stages as if nests become established, they may not be resolved quickly with simple conventional methods and can take several weeks to resolve. EcoSan Solutions has specialised residual solutions to assist with the knockdown and residual control of fruit flies, which can be used as a tool to control these pests.
Trapping solutions
There are several trapping methods that we can employ to control the number of these irritating insects. UV light traps with specialised light wavelengths attract all types of flies and can successfully control Fruit Flies. Lure traps are also effective and have proven quite popular with our corporate clients.
Sanitation Solutions
Various sanitation services may need to be employed to address the eggs and larvae of the Fruit Fly. Where these issues are not addressed, the lifecycle may persist regardless of the insecticide and trapping method. Fruit fly control methods may include the treatment of water drains such as kitchen drain networks and stormwater drains. In addition, appliances and rubbish collection areas may need inspection and improvements.
Larvae control treatment
Products that control the larvae life cycle can be used in areas where nesting where Fruit Flies lay their eggs. These solutions block or interrupt hormones unique to insects morphing stages and prevent larvae from morphing into adult winged insects.
Obstruction techniques
Various screens and sealing methods may be employed to rapidly decrease fruit fly numbers. We have seen huge improvements in difficult to resolve cases by adopting these methods.
