Drosophila fruit fly: where does the tiny fruit "invader" come from and what is dangerous
In the warm season, you can see small flies that enter the premises and enjoy the remnants of fruit, wine or juices with pleasure. These little annoying insects are Drosophila flies or Drosophila fruit flies. They are very prolific. Adults do not bite, but their larvae do harm to human health. If you eat the food on which they settled, you can get poisoned.
Content
Drosophila fruit flies: origin of the species and description
The Drosophila fly belongs to the species of fruit flies, the Drosophila family. She is very prolific and lays up to 2000 eggs in her short life. Females and males differ in the size and shape of the abdomen.
Social Structure in Drosophila
How Drosophila Reproduce
After mating, the fertilized female lays eggs, in one clutch they can be from 50 to 80 pieces. The eggs hatch into larvae, the larvae pupate, and the adults emerge from the pupae. And the life cycle continues.
Females and males differ in the size and structure of the abdomen. Females are slightly larger than males, their abdomen is striped with a sharp tip, in males it is rounded with a black tip.
life cycle of an insect
Drosophila development time is 10-20 days, and depends on the ambient temperature. The female lays her eggs in rotting fruit. A day later, the eggs hatch into larvae. the larvae live and feed for 5 days, passing through two molts, pupate. The pupal stage lasts up to 5 days, and adults appear. After leaving the pupae, the females are ready for mating in 12 hours.
Drosophila flies natural enemies
Drosophila have practically no natural enemies, as they live mainly indoors. Some individuals can get into the web to spiders, but this happens very rarely.
In the wild, fruit flies can get trapped with other insects by carnivorous plants, and they can be attracted to the fragrance that the plants exude.
Most of all fussy flies bother a person, and he tries to get rid of them by all means.
Population and species status
Drosophila flies are distributed almost all over the planet, with the exception of areas with a cold climate. Their family is one of the most numerous, their genus includes more than 1500 species. Insects are very prolific and the female is able to lay eggs until the last days of her life. The population of these insects is constantly growing and nothing threatens it.
How do fruit flies appear in an apartment
Fruit flies are very small and they can enter the apartment in different ways:
- returning from a walk with pets, along with your beloved pet;
- through open windows and vents;
- along with vegetables and fruits brought from the store;
- when buying indoor flowers, there may be eggs or larvae on the soil.
What is the harm of a fruit fly and is there any benefit from it
Do fruit flies bite
Fruit flies are harmless. They do not bite a person, do not feed on his blood and do not carry dangerous diseases. But in itself, their appearance in flower pots or on fruits, and their flickering before the eyes, is unpleasant.
How to deal with fruit flies
You can fight fruit flies with the help of chemicals and folk remedies. First of all, you need to find the source of infection, it can be spoiled fruits or vegetables, leftover sugary drinks and dispose of it.
You can destroy Drosophila using the following chemicals:
- aerosols for fighting flies: Dichlorvos, Kombat, Raptor;
- fumigators;
- Velcro lubricated with fruit juice;
- insect repellants.
You can make baits and traps yourself:
- pour any sweet liquid, juice, sweet drink, water with sugar into a wide and deep cup, add a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent there. Flies arrive at the smell, fall into the liquid;
- cut off the neck of a plastic bottle, lower the chopped fruit to the bottom and tighten the top with cling film, making small holes in it. Drosophila will smell the fruit and will get inside the container, but they will not be able to get back;
- in a similar way, a funnel with a narrow neck can be placed in a bottle. Flies will crawl in to eat fruit, but they will not be able to get back.
Prevention
The best way to get rid of flies is to know where fruit flies come from and prevent them from appearing.
- Throw away food waste, especially the remains of fruits and vegetables.
- Do not leave fruits and vegetables on the table for a long time, but store them in the refrigerator.
- Keep trash cans clean, treat sewer drains with chemicals daily.
- Properly store food, throw away spoiled food on time.
- Check indoor flower pots for insects and do not water them with tea leaves or coffee water.
- Do not leave dirty dishes after feeding pets.
- When buying, inspect vegetables and fruits, spoiled specimens may be infected with eggs or fruit fly larvae.
- Close windows, ventilation openings with nets, as flies can enter the room through them.