Fruit Flies
Common Name
Scientific Name
Small Fruit Fly, also Vinegar, or Pomace Fly
Drosophila melanogaster
Identification:
Adult vinegar flies are about 1/8 to 1/5 inch long, dull brownish-yellow to brownish-black with red eyes in some species. The head and thorax are tan-colored, while the abdomen is black and gray underneath. The wings have two "breaks" in the leading edge near the body. Larvae are about 1/10 to 1/5 inch long, cream-colored, legless, eyeless and tapered to a point at the head end. Larvae have an extended stalk-like breathing tube at the tail end of the body. Pupae are about 1/8 inch long, brown and seed like, with two hornlike stalks at one end.
Biology:
When the process of reproduction begins for the Fruit fly the female fly lays about 500 to 2,000 eggs, near moist, fermenting food material such as overly ripe fruit, rotting vegetables, dirty garbage containers, slime in drains, and waste materials.
Eggs hatch into larvae within 24 to 30 hours, these larvae feed near the surfaces containing fermenting food masses, where they feed primarily on the yeast in the fermenting fluids for five to six days, they then crawl into the drier portions of the food or even out to pupate. The larvae then transforms into the pupa in the last larval skin or puparium. The newly emerged flies are attracted to light, become sexually active in about two days; they mate once or twice and are strong flies, traveling up to 24 miles and hour. The life cycle of the Drain fly is completed in 8 to 15 days depending on the climate.
Habits:
Fruit flies are especially attracted to ripened fruits and vegetables in the kitchen. But they also will breed in drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles and cans, trash containers, mops and cleaning rags. All that is needed for development is a moist film of fermenting material. Infestations can originate from over-ripened fruits or vegetables that were previously infested and brought into the home. The adults can also fly in from outside through inadequately screened windows and doors. Fruit flies are primarily nuisance pests. However, they also have the potential to contaminate food with bacteria and other disease-producing organisms.
