Wine midges: where do they come from in the house and how to quickly get rid of them

Wine midges or fruit flies are known to everyone because of their prevalence. They got their name because they are attracted to the smell of wine that comes from rotting fruit. In the house, they can most often be seen in the kitchen, since all food products are concentrated there. Having settled in an apartment, the small, ubiquitous wine flies are a significant nuisance to the residents. In a short period of time, their numbers become such that they are found: on house plants, curtains, in the trash can, on any product not removed in time, in jars of honey or jam, they strive to get into your morning coffee and, apparently, consider themselves full-fledged masters in your kitchen. Because of this, many are concerned with the question - where do they come from and how to get rid of wine midges in the house?

Types of Drosophila midges

Honey flies are a harmless insect, although annoying. Scientists count several thousand species, although only 1,500 of them are described in detail, 40 live in European countries.

Drosophila melanogaster (other names: fruit fly, honey fly, fruit fly, small fly, wood sorrel) is a small, approximately 3 mm in length, insect belonging to the family Drosophiliadae, order Diptera. External characteristics: red eyes and brown-yellow coloration with black rings on the abdomen. The female's body is approximately 2.5 mm, while the male is smaller and has a darker rear. It is these midges that usually appear in houses and apartments.

By the way, the melanogaster subspecies is highly valued by geneticists because it is ideal for experiments.

And especially for aquarists, a wingless subtype has been bred, which is used to feed fish and reptiles.

Drosophila funebris (called the large or vinegar fly) is larger than melanogaster by an average of 1 mm. It lives mainly near ponds, barrels or other vessels with fermenting/rotting liquids, and less often found in fruits.

Main pests of tomatoes

If you find these insects on the bushes, take immediate action.

Spider mites on tomatoes

This very small insect settles on the underside of the leaf, sucks the juice out of it and entwines it with a thin web. As a result, small dots first appear on the leaf, then it dries out and falls off. Spider mites prefer dry air, so they most often harm tomatoes with scanty watering or infrequent ventilation.

Prevention and control measures for spider mites

1. Water and ventilate tomatoes in a timely manner.
2. Kill weeds, dig up the soil, and regularly remove and burn damaged leaves.
3. If you find traces of the pest, spray the bushes and the soil under them with Fitoverm (1 ml per 1 liter of water).
4. Treat tomatoes with infusion of garlic or onion peels (200 g of peels per 1 liter of water).

Whitefly

This small insect (1-1.5 mm long) with a yellowish body and two pairs of white wings causes damage mainly in the larval stage. They are flat, oval, pale green.

Whitefly larvae attach to tomato leaves and feed on their juices. On top of that, along with these insects, sooty fungus appears on the plants in the form of a black coating. Tomatoes dry out and die.

Prevention and control measures for whitefly

The drug Citcor has proven itself well in the fight against whiteflies. Dilute 1.5 ml of Tsitkor in 10 liters of water and spray the plants in the morning or evening after sunset. If necessary, repeat the treatment after 15-20 days.

Gnawing owl

These caterpillars (30-40 mm long) are black, brownish or gray in color and gnaw on stems, leaves and their petioles at night.

Prevention and control measures for armyworms

1. Regularly remove weeds, dig the soil deeply, and collect caterpillars by hand.
2. Spray the tomatoes with the biological preparation Strela (dissolve 50 g of powder in 10 liters of water).
3. There are also folk remedies: treat tomatoes with an infusion of their tops (take 3-4 kg of raw materials per 10 liters of water, boil for 30 minutes, strain and dilute with water 1:3) or wormwood (pour 3 kg of fresh plant parts into 10 liters of water, boil 20 minutes).

Wireworm

These dense yellow caterpillars (click beetle larvae) eat the roots and stems of tomatoes.

Prevention and control measures for wireworms

1. 3-4 days before planting tomatoes in the greenhouse on sticks (15-20 cm long), string pieces of raw root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets) and place them in the soil to a depth of 10-12 cm so that the ends of the sticks stick out of the ground. After a couple of days, take out these traps (always with vegetables) and burn them.
2. Regularly dig up the soil, while collecting and destroying wireworms.
3. The number of pests can be reduced by liming the soil and applying mineral fertilizers.

Root nematode

Small nematode larvae (worms) penetrate the soil with rooted planting material. They feed on plant roots and form growths and swellings on them. Affected tomatoes develop poorly and bear little fruit.

Prevention and control measures for nematodes

1. Before planting tomato seedlings, disinfect the greenhouse and remove the top layer of soil. Dig up the remaining soil.
2. When planting, add 1 tablet of Glyocladin to each hole. This is an excellent nematode prevention.
3. Every 2 weeks, water the plants with Ecogel solution prepared according to the instructions.
4. If the plantings are heavily infested with nematodes, use Basamil. The active ingredient of this drug is fungi that parasitize the eggs and females of root-knot nematodes.

Medvedka

You can’t escape this polyphagous garden pest even in a greenhouse. The mole cricket (usually brown in color) can reach a length of 10 cm. This rather large insect damages the root system of tomatoes.

Thanks to its digging paws, the mole cricket makes a nest in the soil at a depth of 10-15 cm and lays up to 300 eggs there. After 3 weeks, the larvae emerge and begin to gnaw the roots of the plants.

Prevention and control measures against mole crickets

1. The mole cricket most often lives in moist soils, so try not to overdo it with watering the tomatoes.
2. If a pest is found, pour 0.5 liters of hot pepper infusion (150 g of chopped pepper per 10 liters of water) or 2 cups of table vinegar into each of its burrows.
3. Granular preparations help well against mole crickets: Rembek Granula, Medvetox, Grizzly, Force, Thunder. Bury the granules in the ground to a depth of at least 10 cm so that it is easier for mole crickets to find them, and birds and pets do not get to this poison.

As you can see, in order to grow healthy tomatoes in a greenhouse, it is important to carry out preventive treatments, strictly adhere to the watering regime and norm, and properly care for the plants. Then you won’t have to “recapture” the harvest from voracious pests and save tomatoes from diseases

How do Drosophila midges reproduce?

Where do fruit flies lay their eggs? The female insect lays eggs, the size of which is about 0.5 mm, in rotting fruit or any other organic material. After approximately 10 days, white larvae hatch, measuring up to 3.5 mm in size.

At first they are on the surface of the breeding site, then they go deeper, where pupation occurs. After 4 days, adults appear - imagoes, which reach sexual maturity within 8-12 hours.

Varieties of small midges

Small midges that occupy houses and apartments are divided into several types. Each of them has its own favorite habitat, so small insects can be found in different parts of the home.

In kitchens

Drosophila, fruit flies or fruit flies prefer to live closer to food. More often, they or their larvae enter the house along with overripe, damaged fruit. However, there is another way to get to know insects. A piece of fruit left in a warm place for several days will certainly turn into a convenient place of residence for tiny “freeloaders.”

In indoor plants

Another type of winged invaders “thrive” in them. These are sciarids (soil or fungus gnats) that have chosen indoor plants as their habitat. The most popular culprit for the appearance of this type of midge is tea leaves, which many owners use to water flowers. Constantly waterlogged soil is another factor favorable to insects.

Drosophila and sciarids are absolutely harmless creatures that irritate only by their flickering. But there is another type of midge that is extremely dangerous for plants. These are whiteflies (aleurodids). Fortunately, you can even notice such “whites” with the naked eye.

Life cycle of the midge

An insect goes through three stages of development. During growth, the larvae molt twice: 24 and 48 hours after formation. At this time, they feed on the substances of the decomposing fruit and microorganisms involved in this process. After 4-5 days they pupate. They spend another 4-5 days in this state, during which metamorphoses occur that change, develop and prepare the organs for transformation into an imago.

I recommend reading: How to remove a tick from your body

The first mating in females occurs no earlier than 12 hours after final development. Only from the second day they lay eggs, 50-80 eggs at a time.

Depending on the air temperature, the answer to the question of how long fruit flies live differs. In the warm period - 10 - 20 days, in the cold - up to 2.5 months.

Description of the insect

Drosophila are also called fruit flies. These insects have long settled near humans, for the reason that humans are an inexhaustible source of food for them. Midges eat spoiled fruits, flower nectar, plant debris and juice of domestic plants. All this is available in large quantities near people.

Externally, fruit flies are very small midges. They do not live long and breed very actively, developing in a warm environment from an egg to an adult insect in just ten days. One female has the ability to lay up to 400 eggs. Therefore, wine flies can quickly colonize the entire territory in which they have settled. Midge eggs are laid in spoiled berries and fruits. The hatched larvae penetrate deep into the product and pupate there. Already on the second day after hatching, the female is already able to lay eggs.

Important! These insects do not cause any particular harm to humans - they do not bite, do not suck blood, and certainly are not carriers of diseases. The main harm from them is annoying flickering in the apartment and absorption of food. Theoretically, eating foods contaminated with fly larvae can only result in intestinal upset.

Where do Drosophila midges come from?

The microscopic wings of fruit flies are not designed to cover long distances. Scientists have calculated that on average a midge moves 180 m per day. So where do Drosophila midges come from at home, especially in winter, when doors, windows and all sorts of cracks are closed and insulated? Let's figure it out.

In nature, these insects feed on the sap and rotting remains of plants. Accordingly, they live in gardens, dachas, or simply on fruit trees.

There are several ways to get into the apartment:

• with fruits and vegetables (rarely midges, usually their eggs);
• with the soil that remained on the fruits, or was brought for plant replanting;
• through windows if there are garbage containers or fruit trees nearby;
• through ventilation from neighbors or from the basement;
• breed in food that is stuck in the drain pipe.

Even the most careful connoisseurs of cleanliness are not immune from such a misfortune, who do not leave food on the tables, wash their dishes and pets’ bowls until they shine, regularly take out the trash and sort through the contents of the refrigerator, throwing out rotten fruits.

Yes, it’s unpleasant to see fruit flies covering a fruit bowl or your favorite houseplant in a cloud. But don't be discouraged! Of course, the contents of the fruit bowl will have to be thrown out, but the flower leaves can be saved.

Store-bought and homemade traps

To remove fruit flies without harming others, special traps can be used.

Store Velcro "Raptor"

Adhesive tape allows you to get rid of fruit midges in a short time. The tape contains a special sticky liquid that attracts fruit flies with its smell. Velcro has an adhesive liquid on one side, the second is intended for fastening to the surface. If necessary, the liquid included in the kit can be reapplied, which allows you to use the bait for more than 1 month.

Jar with cone

Homemade bait that effectively eliminates midges. To prepare it, you need to perform the following algorithm:

• rotten fruit or liquid that attracts insects is placed at the bottom of a 0.7 ml glass jar;
• You need to roll a cone out of thick paper;
• lower the cone into the jar with the narrow end and secure with tape so that there are no holes other than the main one in the cone.

The jar is placed in a place where insects accumulate; once inside the bait, the midges cannot find a way out.

Low glass and film

To make this type of bait you need:

• Place jam or rotten fruit at the bottom of a low glass;
• a film is placed on top of the glass, in which several holes are made;
• fruit flies, falling into a trap, cannot get out of it.

Instead of film, tape can be used, in which case the insects will stick, which will lead to their death.

Wine vinegar with dishwashing detergent

Midges flock to wine or apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is mixed in equal proportions with dishwashing detergent and placed in saucers in several places. Insects falling into liquid cannot take off afterwards. The mixture must be changed every 4-6 days.

How to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment

Once inside an apartment, flies multiply quickly and are very difficult to remove. If you leave a rotting fruit or vegetable on the table overnight, by the morning you will have a full kitchen of winged “guests.”

To get rid of fruit flies, first find the source of their food and reproduction, put it not just in the trash, but away from the house.

You should always follow preventive measures:

• Wash your pets' dishes regularly;
• make sure that pieces of food do not fall into the cracks, and that there are no wet or spoiled fruits lying anywhere;
• Store harvests and fruits purchased for future use, if possible, in the basement;
• Take out the trash in a timely manner, wash the bin, and do not leave it open;
• Water indoor plants less often; it is better to place them in those rooms where the fruit fly has nothing to eat.

If you constantly monitor this, then even if flies appear, after a while they will disappear on their own, without the use of chemicals. The timing depends on how long they can live without food.

In addition, immediately rinse vegetables and fruits brought home with hot water, or better yet, pour boiling water over them; this will kill the eggs. In late autumn - early spring, when it is cold outside and fruit flies move closer to warm places, it is enough to simply ventilate the rooms daily.

How effective are aerosols in combat?

If midges appear on fruit (we are now finding out how to get rid of it), then, of course, in this case it is worth resorting to chemical treatment using aerosols. Today there are quite a lot of such products, so purchasing them in a store will not be difficult.

Naturally, such substances should be used infrequently, since they have a rather unpleasant odor and can affect the health of not only midges, but also people themselves. Using aerosols, the entire surface in the kitchen or in the place where insects love to be is treated, after which it is necessary to ventilate the room.

Study of mutational changes in flies

In 1971, R. Konopka and S. Benzer published an article about the first mutations that affect the behavior of animals, especially using the example of fruit flies. Under natural conditions, flies exhibit a 24-hour active rhythm, but scientists have described mutants with faster or slower altered rhythms—flies that move or rest at random intervals. Research lasted for 30 years, as a result of which it turned out that such mutations concern a group of genes and their derivatives that are responsible for the rhythm of the biochemical or molecular clock. Such “clocks” are present in many cells of flies, but those clock cells that are able to control activity are many neurons located in the central brain of the fly.

Mutations of Drosophila flies are also known to change the shape of the wings (up to their complete absence), body color, development of bristles on the body, changes in the shape of the eyes, their color (red, cherry, yellow, white), and other physiological characteristics (life expectancy, fertility , resistance to various damaging influences).

Are such “neighbors” dangerous?

The Internet is full of information that midges are dangerous and should be carefully avoided and feared, since they carry an infection worse than mosquitoes. But we must understand that the most dangerous midges that are found in our country are located near swamps and reservoirs. The maximum she can do is bite like a mosquito. And the consequences will be similar.

Yes, in southern African countries mosquitoes and midges carry terrible diseases, and there you should be careful and use repellents in advance. Midges that have settled in the apartment for a short time do not pose any danger, except for a little stress due to their intrusive and shameless behavior.

In what places in the house can they appear?

Popular places where midges can appear:

• pots with plants and flowers;
• flower bouquets in vases;
• fruits and vegetables, both raw and thermally processed;
• organic waste;
• open sewer pipes;
• basement;
• a neighbor's room, from where it will not be difficult for midges to move into your home.

Drosophila reproduce at lightning speed, and before you know it, they will take over the entire apartment space in a matter of days. All the plants in the house, the trash can, prepared meals on the table, and leftover food will attract small pests. And dealing with them will not be as easy as simply taking action and preventing their occurrence. In addition to food midges, you may encounter the following types of new residents in your apartment:

1. Water midges. They often breed in places with high humidity (bathrooms - bathtubs, showers, near aquariums or in sink drains). Midges do not live long, but they successfully lay eggs.
2. Clothes midges. They increase their number exponentially in damp, undried things. Especially in summer and in hot, humid climates.
3. Sciriades. They multiply well and grow in the soil of flower pots when fertilized, especially with organic fertilizers. It is also not recommended to overfill the flowers with water, so that a stagnant swamp does not form there.

Preventive measures

Following simple rules will allow you to forget what fruit flies look like. The house should be in order, vegetables and fruits should be stored in the refrigerator, and the risk of annoying midges breeding in the home will be minimized.

Other important rules:

wash dishes regularly, do not accumulate glasses, spoons, plates on the table or in the sink; throw out garbage in a timely manner, especially in the warm season, when there is a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables; It is good to wring out rags in the kitchen and bathroom; do not store rotten foods at home, especially grapes, peaches, bananas, apples, melons; water the plants as needed, do not create dampness in the flowerpot and the plate under it; When using tea leaves as fertilizer, replace the layer in the pot in time. Rotting tea leaves against a background of high humidity are an ideal habitat for annoying midges; The cat's litter box should always be clean, as should pet feeding bowls. Drosophila, deprived of food, will definitely leave an inhospitable home; When identifying annoying “neighbors”, do not postpone the fight against insects

It is important to remember: midges always stay in flocks, and when there is an abundance of food, they quickly flock to the smell.

The appearance of Drosophila flies at home can be prevented if you keep order and care for your plants correctly and on time. In case of invasion of tiny insects, homemade traps and folk recipes will help.

Video - review of how to get rid of fruit flies in the house:

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The simplest method of controlling fruit flies is sticky tape. They can be hung in any room where flying annoying insects usually gather: in the bathroom, kitchen, greenhouse and even in a beer store. There will definitely not be any difficulties with their purchase: the tapes are available in almost any hardware store.

If regular cleaning and sticky tapes do not help, you need to move on to more effective methods - the use of special insecticidal preparations. They are sold in spray form. The most popular are “Raptor”, “Raid”, “Combat”, “Dichlorvos”, “Hexachloran”. They contain various components that destroy insects. The product must be sprayed in the house. It is recommended to close all windows and doors and wait a few hours. First you need to remove all the people and put away the food. At the end, after treatment, ventilate the room. Instructions for use are written on aerosol containers, so you should always read them.

In the apartment and at the dacha, you can also use special traps, which can be purchased at a hardware store. Raptor is very popular. The principle of its operation is as follows: insects flock to the aroma that is emitted by a container of liquid and stick to the inside of the trap in the form of a house. To use such a trap, you must first assemble it yourself:

1. 1. Remove the cap from the can.
2. 2. Place the trap on top of the container with the sticky surface inward.

Drosophila also reproduce in flowers, or more precisely, in the soil for them.

This is an ideal environment for flies. To find larvae in the soil, you need to dig up the soil with a small spatula or toothpick. If small worms are found, then it is necessary to use insecticides to protect the plants. “Aktellik”, “Fitoverm” will do. In more advanced cases, when the larvae have infested the pot, it is necessary to transplant the flower into a new container, completely replacing the soil.

If fruit flies live in the bathroom or kitchen sink, you can remove them using boiling water. They need to treat the space regularly. It is recommended to use such products as “Domestos”, “Mr. Muscle”, “Mole”.

Video

To get rid of fruit flies, various methods and means are used. To learn more about fighting methods, watch the following videos:

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