The summer months are right around the corner, and flies will be coming with them. Many people experience flies in their home not only during the summer months but also during the winter as well. Fruit flies can be a constant problem. But do fruit flies bite humans? The answer is no, they don’t bite humans, but there are flies that do.  How can you tell the difference between fruit flies and other biting flies? This is a question that we will answer in this article.

IDENTIFYING FRUIT FLIES

Fruit flies are very tiny. These insects predominantly feed upon fruit in many different stages of decay. One of the most telling features of the fruit fly or its red eyes. In most cases, a tiny fly with red eyes is almost always going to be a fruit fly. If you’re experiencing flat bites from a tiny fly, you may be having trouble with biting midges. These tiny blood suckers are often mistaken for fruit flies because of their size. They are blood feeders that survive on the blood of mammals, much like mosquitoes.

These insects are attracted to fruit and vinegar. They are very common in homes, restaurants, supermarkets or anywhere you can find fruit and other foods. They are especially attracted to ripen fruits and vinegars, but can also breed in drains.  Even though they can breed inside of drains, they are not the same as drain flies. In most cases drain flies can be identified by their larger wings that are shaped in a V shape. Fruit flies are much smaller. Contact your Broken Arrow exterminator for more information.  

ARE FRUIT FLIES DANGEROUS?

Fruit flies are not necessarily dangerous to humans. They can definitely be a nuisance though. These insects usually show up at the end of summer and around till the first frost. But if you have all fruit in your house, they can be attracted to your home. In addition to fruit as a food source, they also need water. This is why you can find them often in your drain pipe. They will find water in the P-trap portion of your plumbing. Pouring chlorine bleach down the drain doesn’t help, but using a brush down inside the plumbing can help remove residue that they could consume.  

Fruit flies lay their eggs on the surface of rotting fruit vegetables. Each female can lay a lot of eggs. Often this can number as many as 500 eggs in one setting. Hatching from these eggs, a larvae will come out that will molt twice before becoming a full grown adult. These larva often feed on the east and fungi that are breaking down the fruit that they are found on. They were often turn their food source into a semi liquid mess.  They were pupate somewhere dryer, and can go from egg to full grown adult in between 8 to 10 days. They made a couple hours after they become adults, and lay eggs within 24 hours.

THE LIFECYCLE OF THE BITING MIDGE

The biting midge, on the other hand, undergoes complete metamorphosis. This means that they will start as an egg, become a larva, pupa into some form of cocoon and then become a reproductive adult. It’s in their adult stage that they will begin to bite people or animals to consume their blood. Female biting midges require a blood meal before they can lay eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the larva will mold four times. The larval them development can take anywhere from two weeks to a year or more depending on their environment.Contact your Tulsa exterminator for more information.  

These flies will stay in pupal stage for about 2 to 3 days and then emerge as reproductive adults. These adults can live for 2 to 7 weeks. Biting midges can complete two or more generations every year, giving them availability to create large numbers of their population. Most of the larva will develop in aquatic or semi aquatic environments. Often damp soils can be a great place for these insects to develop. If you’re having a problem at your home with these biting flies, it may be a good idea to find out if you have an area in your yard that does not dry out.

CONTROL

So how do I get rid of these flies if I have them in my home? When it comes to fruit flies, the number one thing that you can do is to get rid of their breeding sites. This means finding old and rotting fruit quickly and removing it from your home. Without a food source, fruit flies have no intention of being in your home. There are fruit fly traps that are sold in supermarkets and hardware stores. These have limited amounts of success. At the end of the day, removing their food supply is the number one way of controlling these insects.

Flying midges are a little harder to control. If you can find where they are breeding and reduce the moisture of this area, this can make a huge difference. Pesticides can also work against the adults in limited quantities. Also spraying yourself with repellent such as deed can have a limited effect helping you to stay clear of these insects. If you’re having further issues with any kind of fly, it’s time to call your Tulsa pest control company.

CALL IN A PROFESSIONAL

Fires can be a major nuisance in and around your home. But there are ways of dealing with them. You can contact your local Broken Arrow pest control company to help you. Here in TermMax Pest Control we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with pests in and around your home. We service the greater Tulsa area including Owasso, Sapulpa, Prattville, Jenks, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, Turley and much more. We are here to help!