Infestation of fruit flies

The other thing you can do which is pretty easy and what I did for my grandaughter is buy a bag of fine gravel the sort you put in aquariums and cover the soil with it then the little blighters can’t lay their eggs in the soil

Yes I would say houseplants are the culprit at this time of year. Be wary of newly acquired plants like poinsettias, I think the flies lay their eggs in the soil, hatching in the warmth of your home.

Let your plants dry out between watering, use sticky traps, or get an insect eating plant, like a venus fly-trap.

'sound so much worse'

I got a terrarium last Christmas and found that the plants in it seemed to have fruit flies all over them.

They turned out to be fungus gnats (which should so much worse, don't they?) and I got rid of the blighters by getting some sticky yellow things from Amazon and putting them in the soil. You get a pack of yellow stickers and little holders, and make flag-like things to stand amongst the gnats, which are attracted to whatever infuses the paper, and stick to the surface. You then replace the stickers until the gnats have all gone. It worked for me - I think it took about a week.

YesBlueBelle I do have lots of houseplants..in fact that is where the flies congregate..I've actually been spraying the compost with fly spray but its had no effect..I shall Google 🦟

Are you sure they are fruit flies my grandaughter had what appeared to be masses of fruit flies but she doesn’t have any fruit in her room but she does have a lot of houseplants They are almost alike tiny and black and often mistaken…. they are called fungus gnats or compost flies
Do you have house plants because if so that’s probably where they are coming from if you Google them there’s ways to get rid of them

Just seen this thread...infested here also...I actually have to keep vacuuming them up off the living room windowsill..also in the bathroom and the kitchen...will try the cider vinegar...

I'm not sure, midgey. They could be. They are small and black. And I think they bite!

Same with me! Ants come out, fruit flies go in!

Apple cider vinegar in a tiny open container works great

I'm in central Scotland and I still am seeing some fruit flies around, despite the bowl of cider vinegar. They are a nuisance

I generally put out vinegar traps for them - part fill an empty container with vinegar and leave it where the flies are normally found. They are attracted to it and drown.

We've had fruit flies all over the kitchen, laundry room, dining room (adjacent) in the last few weeks. I looked everywhere for a wet source and finally found a bit of standing water directly under the kitchen near a found wall. Wet vac took care of that, a shop fan on all days. I had a person out to solve source and re-route. I dumped vinegar there daily for 3 weeks, used a can of spray alternate days, now all gone. Finally.

I bought some fruit fly traps called Super Ninja from Amazon and they worked a treat.

Not to be confused with what we call fruit flies which are quite large and wasp like and destroy huge crops. fruitflyidentification.com.au

We put out pots of cider vinegar with a drop of washing up liquid in.

Parsley3

I set out a vinegar trap for these little nuisances. Not sure that it is humane but I can't stand them pooing and making merry on my fruit and bread.

Same here. Put some wine in a jar, cover it with cling film and pierce holes in the top. Strangely enough I’ve had no fruit flies this year. Or mosquitoes.

I set out a vinegar trap for these little nuisances. Not sure that it is humane but I can't stand them pooing and making merry on my fruit and bread.

Henetha are you sure your little flies are not compost flies?

Are they definitely fruit flies? We had a problem with tiny black flies that were coming up from the drains when there was. a problem with them a few years ago.

I've had more than usual too. They seem to hover around my house plants. Do they bite? Something bit my face yesterday.

Yes, not infested as you are, but certainly more than usual.

Also have green fly and lots of whitefly in the garden still along with some impressive fungi that we didn't have last year.

Maybe it's like ladybirds do some year - just go into overdrive and they are everywhere. I don't know why, but could do with some now to eat the other bugs!

We have had more than usual and for longer.

I thought it was just me. As you have said, all over the house. I have tried everything, like cider vinegar, rotten fruit in a jar, covering everything, clearing out the bin etc., all to no avail. Almost like they were hiding in the walls. However, this week, so far, fingers crossed nothing. Maybe it's over thankfully because I was getting slightly obsessed with them.

I reckon it is the humidity.

It is also an excellent year for fungus, I have seen some glorious ones on my rambles. My aim is to see a lions mane, but it is doubtful unless I live in the West Country I think.

A front garden I pass on the way out has huge dinner plate size ones - I haven’t established it’s identity yet.

Something I hadn’t experienced until this summer. So many, mainly in the kitchen and the only way I found to resolve this was to stop buying fruit. I have one lemon in the fruit basket and spotted two fruit flies yesterday, I sliced it and put it in the fridge. Harsh measures in know. Another pest we had recently was bluebottles. They have disappeared now and I still didn’t discover where they were coming from.