Vinegar flies, also known as pomace flies, are one of the many fly pests you might come across in your kitchen. They can be problematic due to their fondness for overripe fruits and vegetables, making kitchens an obviously attractive area for them. They are mostly a nuisance pest and don’t pose any real danger to humans, but their behavior can make them quite repulsive and they definitely pose a threat to your fruits and vegetables.

Vinegar flies quite small, at only 1/16 inch, tend to be yellow to brown in color, and frequently have distinctive red eyes. Vinegar flies actually use fruits and vegetables in their reproduction, with females usually laying their eggs within cracks and wounds they find in fruit. They can often be brought into a home unknowingly on produce bought at the grocery store, and their activity around the cracks they lay their eggs inside can speed up the rate of decay. However, all they require to reproduce is decaying or fermenting organic matter and plenty of moisture, meaning they can lay their eggs in almost any organic waste, especially in humid Louisiana. This is why females can also be seen laying their eggs around drains that have built up an accumulation of decaying organic matter, particularly ones that are slow-moving or seldomly used. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae consume the yeast created from the decaying fruit or vegetable until they are ready to emerge as adults.

Thankfully, infestations of vinegar flies can be taken care of fairly easily. Usually, once you get rid of the decaying fruit and vegetables, the flies will leave with it. To avoid problems with any produce you buy at the store, make sure to store new fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, which will kill any living flies and prevent them from laying eggs and producing more of their kind to infest your kitchen. You definitely want to make sure and regularly remove trash in your kitchen, particularly if there are any bits and/or pieces of fruits or vegetables rotting away in there.

Have you ever found flies breeding in the cracks of fruit or vegetables you have in your kitchen?