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General Characteristics:

- Body length 2-12 mm

- Highly-patterned wings

- Other species have brightly-patterned bodies, and may mimic wasps

- The common fruit fly is normally a yellow brown (tan) color, and is only about 3 mm in length and 2 mm in width

Reproduction:

- Larvae live in a variety of fruit, seeds (often Asteraceae), are leaf miners, or cause galls

- A single pair of flies can produce hundreds of offspring within a couple of weeks, and the offspring become sexually mature within one week

- The eggs are placed on fruit, and hatch into fly larvae (maggots), which instantly start consuming the fruit on which they were laid

- They are easily drawn towards the smell of any food source, and will mate almost indiscriminately with any individual of the opposite sex.

Signs of Infestation:

- Lives primarily on plant material

- The adults thrive on rotting plants, and fruits\

- Eggs are usually laid on unripened/slightly ripened fruit, so by the time the larva develop the fruit will have just started to rot, and they can use the fruit that the egg was laid on as their primary source of nutrition.

Control Techniques:

- Close and seal as many openings as possible through which the flies can enter.  This procedure is time consuming and may require a dedicated long term effort.

- Use a  compressed air sprayer to apply a surface spray to surfaces in attics, basements, closets, store rooms and other areas where the flies congregate. 

- Using a pyrethrin aerosol for treating cracks and crevices will compliment your surface spray

- Insecticides such as dusts, wet table powders, microencapsulated products, or aerosols may be used ACCORDING TO LABEL SPECIFICATIONS AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS

Please click here to contact a Focus Pest Control professional to inquire about further treatments for this pest species.



References:

Miller, C. 2000. "Drosophila melanogaster" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed January 11, 2010 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Drosophila_melanogaster.html.

“Family Tephritidae - Fruit Fly” (On-line). Iowa State University Entomology. Accessed Jan.
6, 2010 at http://bugguide.net/node/view/7017.

Disclaimer:

The Focus Pest Control ‘Pest Library’ is an educational resource written largely to educate the general public about common pests in Ontario. The Focus ‘Pest Library’ does not include all species in Ontario, nor does it include the most recent scientific data about species we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While Focus Pest Control staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.

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