How to Get Rid of Pesky Fruit Flies

One of the nicest things a friend ever did for me was to tell me how to get rid of fruit flies. Here’s how:

You will need:

• a jar
• paper
• scissors
• tape
• ripe piece of fruit or peel (a piece of banana works great)

 Image by Author

1. Put the fruit into the jar
2. Using the scissors, cut out a rough circle from the paper. The circle needs to be approximately 1-2 inches larger than the lip of the jar. No need to be exact.
3. Make a slit to the center of the paper, and make a very small hole in the center of the circle. This hole should not be too large (or the flies will escape) or too small (or they will not be able to get into the jar.)
4. Overlap the paper where the slit is, making it into a cone.
5. Tape both sides of the slit all the way down to the hole. This is important so the flies can not escape through this slit. Check that the hole is still the right size. if not carefully trim the tip.
6. Set it in the jar and loosely trim to fit the lip of the jar.
7. Tape the outer rim of the circle to the lip of the jar, sealing it entirely all the way around. If you do not seal it all the way around, the flies will escape your trap.

Some tips:

1. Check your trap several hours after you have set it out to see if your seal and hole are working properly. If your hole is too big, and the flies are escaping, you may need to try again.
2. Put the jar close to the other fruit in your house, or if possible, put your other fruit in the refrigerator, so that the only fruit tempting the flies is the stuff in the jar.

Image by Author

This method works somewhat like a fish trap. The fruit fly goes into the hole to get to the fruit, but instead of escaping back out of the hole, he tries to leave the jar by flying out the top, only to find it sealed. His little brain tells him to keep trying to go up, so he never figures out he needs to go down to get out of the hole. 

So, every time I end up with fruit flies in the house, I do this. It works every time. I leave the jar on my counter for a few days and soon the pesky flies are bugging no one but the jar.

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