Are you wondering how to make a homemade fruit fly trap? Below are simple steps with pictures on how to do it. The best homemade trap should be harmless and effective.
To make a homemade fruit fly trap, pour 1/4 cup of water in a clear glass and add 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Drop a few pieces of sliced bananas into the glass and cover them with clear paper. Make small holes on the glass cover and wait for fruit flies to get in.
4 Steps to make a homemade fruit fly trap with pictures
You can also use things that attract fruit flies like apple cider vinegar, ripe fruits, beer bottle, and ripe tomatoes as bait. Any of those will make good bait.
The fruit flies will force their way into the glass when looking for the baits. The soapy water will trap and drown them. Here is a complete guide of how to set up a fruit fly trap at home:
1. Get a clean glass, ripe banana and a cover
Chop a ripe banana into pieces as shown below. Ensure the banana is overripe and do not remove the peels because this attracts fruit flies very fast.
2. Pour water into the glass
This should go up to 1/4 level of the glass. Add 2 teaspoons of dish soap into the water and if possible, you can add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Here an illustration:
3. Drop the chopped pieces of banana into the glass and cover it
Use duct tape or any tape to hold the cover into place. After that, make some random tiny holes that are enough for the fruit flies to get into the glass. Here is an image to illustrate what to do:
4. Place the trap in a strategic place
Position the trap where you always see fruit flies and wait for the flies to land on the cover. They will get into the trough the hole after which they will be trapped. Here is a picture of fruit flies in a homemade trap:
The advantage of using a homemade fruit fly trap is that it is cheap and safe for you and your pets.
There are no costs involved since you just need to get whatever is in the kitchen and use it. Your kitchen and food will also be free from pesticides that may be harmful to your children and pets.
Alternative baits to use in a homemade fruit fly trap
There are several other ways to trap those Little flies at home. This is all about getting the right baits and setting traps in their favorite areas.
Fruit flies are attracted by rotting and fermenting fruits and vegetables. They use their sense of smell to trace these for survival. When setting up a homemade fruit fly trap, you should put it into consideration.
The idea is to lure the insects into a place where they cannot escape. Below are some homemade traps and how to set them up.
1. Vinegar trap
Another name for fruit flies is vinegar flies. This is attributed to the fact that fruit flies are easily attracted to apple cider vinegar. Since apple cider vinegar has a greater scent than white vinegar, it is most effective.
All you need to do is to learn how to make an apple cider vinegar fruit fly trap at home. This is a safe trap that can be used even in the bedroom and dining areas.
This explains why apple cider vinegar is the common bait used to trap fruit flies. It is also important that you need to use some detergent to break the surface tension so that the flies can sink in the vinegar if they land on it.
2. Wine trap
Wine works as a good bait when attracting fruit flies because it has some fermented gradients in it. Instead of water and soap, you can use sweep red whine to trap fruit flies.
Don’t forget to add a few drops of any detergent so that they can sink and drown it. There are different ways to use wine when trapping flies.
You could leave some whine in the bottle in an open space. Fruit flies then will fly into the bottle while trying to reach the wine. When they are all trapped, you can cover the bottle and throw it away.
3. Ripe fruits
Fruit flies are naturally attracted to extra ripe fruits. Their favorite fruits include bananas, pineapple, and apples. Those can therefore be used to lay a trap as illustrated at the beginning of this article. Â
It is important to find out things that attract fruit flies because they are what you need to make a trap. If you do not get the right ones, then the trap will not be very efficient.
To trap fruit flies, get some overripe or rotting fruits and slice them.  Put these in a bowl and cover it up with a clear plastic wrap.
Perforate the trap to give room for the flies to get into the bowl. The flies will get in to feed on the fruits but they will not be able to come out.
4. Yeast
Yeast is used in most industrial processes as a fermenting agent. Since fruit flies love fermenting things, yeast can be used to make a homemade fruit fly trap.
Warm a cup of water and add a teaspoon of sugar to it. Mix well until the sugar is dissolved. Add a teaspoon of yeast to the mixture. This should then be placed where the flies love to congregate.
The above alternative baits are all safe to use to get rid of fruit flies in the bathroom and kitchen. In most cases, there are always little chances of getting those flies in the bedroom unless you always eat in there and the place is not clean.
How do homemade fruit fly traps work?
Fruit fly traps work by luring the flies into a confined area. This confined area may contain something that is poisonous to the flies or a trap that will drown them.
As a result, any fly that gets into the trap will have no way of getting out and will thus end up dying. These help to exterminate their population in the house. When this is well done, the flies will not be able to breed.
When the traps are done perfectly, they can be very efficient with instant results. To ensure that the trap serves its purpose, follow all the instructions given in different guides.
There are many items that can be used for making fruit fly traps. The stronger a bait is, the fast and efficient the trap will work. For example, bananas will attract fruit flies faster than bread. So it is good to know what will work fast.
References:
- University of Maryland Extension: Fruit flies – Home and Garden Information Centre
- Berkeley Graduate Division: Flies, yeast and making wine by Alli Quan