Midges on the windowsill in winter what to do. As in an apartment, a house, get rid of small midges in the kitchen, in the room, in the bathroom: methods, tips, folk remedies and chemicals. Where do midges come from in an apartment, house, on fruit? How to make a trap for midges

Most often, midges can be seen in the kitchen, because there is always something to eat. Sometimes insects get into the refrigerator in a bag of fruit. Low temperature does not kill them, but only "lulls" them. After returning to the wild, the midge wakes up and continues to hunt for a new delicacy. Midges often hide in flower pots. Due to the lack of fruits, midges begin to feed on the juice flowing in the stems and leaves of indoor flowers.

How to distinguish a fruit fly from a regular midge

Drosophila, or fruit flies

Drosophila are the most harmless insects for humans. This group includes more than 10 species of midges. The size of the body does not exceed 2.5-3 mm, which allows them to get through all the cracks and even through anti mosquito net. The color of the insect is from light green to dark brown. "Plodovki" are distinguished by a slow "drunk" flight. They often hover in circles in one place.

Fruit flies lay their larvae on the surface of food. Most preferred for this purpose citrus fruit. This is due to the fact that the smell of citruses repels wasp riders, who are the main enemies of the "fruit trees". They eat the laid larvae, preventing the flies from breeding. Within 10 days, the larvae are in the product, and then young individuals are born. Most often, people themselves bring food with delayed larvae into the house, which quickly mature and encroach on vegetable and fruit stocks.

The harm caused by fruit flies is to speed up the process of rotting fruit. Flying from spoiled fruits to fresh ones, midges carry fungal spores. As a result, fresh fruit becomes covered with dark spots after 5-6 hours. This is dangerous for the owners of canteens, cafes and vegetable stores. Harm from small insects can result in large financial outlays.

Food spoilage is not the only harm from indoor midges. After eating a product with delayed larvae, a person may experience health problems. Abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea are the most harmless signs of poisoning. To avoid further trouble, you need to remove the midges from the apartment.

Midges

Ordinary street midges are much more dangerous than “fruit lovers”. They are relatives of mosquitoes and are blood-sucking insects. The color of the insect is from light brown to dark brown. They fly much faster than fruit flies. oral apparatus midges has a special structure. A mosquito inserts a proboscis, thin as a hair, under the skin, slightly damaging upper layer epidermis. Mosquito bites are much more painful. The insect gnaws the top layer of the skin and feeds on the blood that has come out of the wound. Saliva that gets into the wound can cause a severe allergic reaction in the form of swelling, redness and bruising.

AT wild nature midges live near water bodies, in plantings, forests, hiding in tall grass. Getting into houses and apartments, small bloodsuckers hide in indoor plants. Sometimes they can be found in the bathroom, as there is a source of moisture. The midges are most active after sunset. A fumigator or special plates that destroy blood-sucking insects will help get rid of them.

Cleanliness is the main protection against "fruits"

main reason the appearance of midges in the house - the introduction of infected fruits and vegetables collected on own garden or store bought. The fruit midge lives no more than a day, but a short lifespan does not prevent it from multiplying at a tremendous speed. From one vase of rotting fruit, tens or hundreds of individuals can form overnight. If midges appear in the kitchen, immediately discard all spoiled foods, and wash fresh fruits and hide in the refrigerator.

The second reason is the “stale” bin. Watermelon skins, apple cores, potato peelings and other organics. In the hot season, food spoils much faster. By evening, the bin will become an attractive place for midges. But what if the garbage lingers in the house for 2 or 3 days? Take out the organic trash daily and keep the bucket clean.

« Green corner"- the second most attractive place for midges. In flower pots there are fallen leaves that rot due to high humidity. Many housewives fertilize flowers with tea leaves or others. food products. This attracts small insects. Try to remove leaves, twigs and other plant waste from pots in time.

The "living corner" is also a "bait" for midges. They can fly into the cages of birds, rabbits and hamsters. Rodents are known for their love of food. Their supplies attract insects. Keep clean around the dog or cat bowl. Change the water in aquariums regularly. Midges flock to the smell of stagnant water and traces of organic matter on the walls of the aquarium.

Rinse regularly sewer drains. You can use a liquid or granular agent to dissolve deposits in the Krot pipes. Food and other organic waste stuck in pipes rot over time, attracting midges. Therefore, midges often fly not only in the kitchen, but also in the bathroom.

Ways to fight

The first step towards the total removal of midges from the house is a general cleaning in the kitchen. Throw away all spoiled products, conduct a complete audit of all kitchen cabinets, pantries and balconies. Insects can be found in cereals. Wash all dirty dishes. One unwashed glass of juice or wine can be smelled by midges a mile away. A loose bottle of wine will lure midges into the bar. Tidy up your dishes and your pets' dishes. Remove any fallen leaves from the flowers, mop the floor and unclog the pipes. If after general cleaning"fruit trees" are still flying in the room, you need to set up traps and barriers.

Cleanliness in the kitchen will prevent the appearance of cockroaches, ants, flycatchers and fruit flies

Homemade traps

There are 3 most popular trap recipes that you can make at home. If the midges are wound up in the plants, you can set traps on the windowsills.

To get rid of insects in the kitchen, you need to make several baits at once. This will increase the number of caught "fruits".

Banana peel trap. "Prudovki" just love bananas. To make a trap, you will need an empty plastic bottle and fresh banana skin. Place the peel inside the bottle (if it does not fit through the neck, cut it into pieces) and screw on the cap. Make 10 small holes. To do this, it is better to use a thin hot awl. The smell of the peel is an attractant for midges. They are able to smell it even at a long distance. Having flown inside, the insect cannot get out.
Cone trap. Put an orange slice or a piece of any spoiled fruit on the bottom of the glass. Make a cone out of paper, securing the edges with tape. Place the paper in the glass with the cone down. The hole must be large enough to let in small midges. The insects are unable to get out of the trap.
Trap with vinegar or alcohol. Moshkara loves beer, wine, sweetened water, fruit juices and honey. Pour any of the listed liquids into a deep container, cover tightly on top cling film. Poke a few small holes with a toothpick. The liquid attracts small insects. Once inside, they can't get out.

Chemistry

If a folk remedies turned out to be helpless in the fight against Drosophila, you can resort to more aggressive methods.

Special trap from "Raptor". One trap is enough to protect a room up to 12 square meters. Validity - up to 30 days. The package contains a vial of liquid, a special sheet of cardboard with an adhesive surface and instructions on how to fold the "house". Midges flock to an attractive aroma and stick to the sticky "floor".
Dichlorvos. The good old dichlorvos helps to fight almost any insects. The main thing is that the aerosol does not get on food.
Mosquito fumigator. Mosquito plates or a fumigator help to deal with fruit flies. Turn on the fumigator in the kitchen for one night, and the insects will disappear without a trace.

All of these methods help to permanently remove annoying midges out of sight. They will no longer come across to you in tea, in a bag of fruit and hover over indoor plants. .

Drosophila (fruit, fruit) flies it is difficult to call a direct enemy of man. They do not directly harm the health and life of people. Rather, they are enemies of fruits and vegetables, food warehouses, shops and inexpensive cafes. However, they can seriously annoy any connoisseur country rest and even a city dweller. Everyone who has come across these small strange insects knows that they are not so easy to get out of the house. First, it is never clear where they come from! Secondly, for the complete destruction fruit flies you need to use a whole system of methods and means. And many people are sorry to waste their time and effort on this “system”. So they live for many months and even years side by side with Drosophila. Today we will talk about how to get rid of midges in the apartment.

Our portal knows how to save energy in this struggle and achieve complete freedom from insects. We will tell you not only about preventive methods, known to many, but we will select best traps for fruit flies!

How to distinguish fruit flies from other midges?

People often don't know how to tell fruit flies from sewer flies, biting forest flies, fungus gnats, and other insects. Some even believe that they are all the same creatures. In fact, there is a difference. It lies in the degree of danger of insects, their habitats, the rate of reproduction, as well as in the "favorite dishes" of these creatures:

If flies fly out of the sink in the kitchen or bathroom, then these are sewer flies (flies). They seem "fluffy" due to the dark hairs that densely cover their torsos and wings. For details on getting rid of these flies, read the material "How to kill sewer flies: 6 best remedies".
If you notice that little flies swarm in your indoor flowers, and the plants themselves began to wither, the mushroom mosquitoes are to blame! They need to be destroyed as soon as possible - find out why and how to do it right in our guide "How to get rid of mushroom gnats in 5 steps".
If any insects fly out of your wardrobe or kitchen cabinets- unfortunately, this is a wardrobe (room) or food moth. These pests can cause much more damage than a spoiled mood. We have already encountered this problem and analyzed in detail best practices and means of getting rid of moths.
Some annoying midges strive to get into your eyes or have already bitten you at home - and did it hurt? If these are not mosquitoes, and there is a reservoir near your house, then these are probably single gnats that have flown into your house from the street, and there is nothing to be afraid of. But if they continue to attack your home, then it's time for an intensified fight - choose the best remedies in our review "How to get rid of midges: the best traps, sprays and other means"
If the flies settled and breed on spoiled fruits and vegetables, fly over fermented alcohol or sweets, then this is exactly Drosophila - fruit flies, otherwise known as fruits. We will tell you in detail about getting rid of them in this material.

The fruit fly is one of the most harmless creatures on this list. It is classified as an insect harmless to humans. It just breeds way too fast. And also - little by little it spoils fruit plantations and homemade food supplies ... So we still won’t be “friends” with her. We will fight and for this we will get to know the “fruit tree” better.

So, by "fruit flies" we mean dozens of species of insects that have similar qualities. This is a small midge, the size of which is from 1 to 3 mm. It can be recognized by its oval, bulbous body and slow "drunk" flight. There are many kinds fruit flies, ranging in size from one to two millimeters. The color of their "carcasses" can be different: more often it is dark yellow and brown shades. Slightly less often you can meet black and orange midges. They have 2 symmetrical neat wings and 6-8 legs.

Their larvae Drosophila fruit flies lay only on the nutrient surface. Most often, these are sweet foods like fruits, vegetables, aromatic cheeses. Most of all they "value" the fruits citrus plants. Scientists have recently found out that there their eggs are not touched by the main exterminators of flies - wasps-riders. The larvae “travel” around the “tasty house” and in 10 days turn into adults. Before that, they are almost invisible to humans: eggs and larvae quickly disguise themselves as the color of the fetus. And only at the very beginning, whitish "seeds" 0.5 mm in size can be seen with the naked eye. By the way, due to invisibility, people more often bring spoiled nursery fruits to their apartment directly from the store. And only then fruit flies appear in their homes. They show up and start to annoy.

Are fruit flies dangerous? What do you need to know about them?

We will immediately answer main question about any domestic midges. NO, fruit flies don't bite humans! They simply have nothing to do with it ... Moreover, many experts say that they do not tolerate harmful pathogenic substances at all. Although, theoretically, fruit flies can turn into a carrier of infection. But, apparently, this does not happen often in their lives ( fruit flies they don't travel much and don't live that long).

Why are Drosophila dangerous to humans?

1. Of course they are enemies food production and catering outlets. In rooms where a lot of food is stored, especially ripe fruits, flies appear quickly. As a result, food products are physically damaged. In some cases, they are ignored. And sometimes the goods come in complete disrepair. As a result, large transcontinental fruit carriers suffer serious losses every year. Small businesses are also suffering. The owners of restaurants and green shops are simply tormented by how to get rid of unattractive insect nests.

2. They harm not only huge warehouses, but also small cellars with products.. Farmers and winter stockers find midges in flour and sugar sacks, in potato stores, and on tomatoes and oranges laid out on verandas. The presence of larvae in these fruits does not bode well for their owners and consumers. The sanitary situation here will deteriorate until the owners get down to business.

3.The moth is simply bored. She flies into the mouth, nose and eyes ... stains the wallpaper and snow-white curtains ... frightens guests and small children. In general, this is an unpleasant neighborhood.

4. They also harm the unharvested crop.. Gardeners and owners of garden areas around the house know that midges can easily "undermine" the fruits of your plants on the street. The twin brothers of domestic fruit flies will just as willingly populate your favorite apple trees, tomatoes, eggplants, apricots and peaches with their children. Perhaps the damage from them will not even be noticed by the human eye and stomach. But who wants to eat fruits stuffed with insect larvae?

The situation is aggravated by some species features these insects.

Do you know that:

fruit midges extremely prolific. The female Drosophila for one ovipositor leaves offspring of almost 20 insects. Moreover, they begin to multiply within 8 hours after birth. By the way, experts warn: the larva turns into an adult fly in 8-10 days. This is non-stop.
They lay their eggs directly under the skin of ripe or overripe fruits.. True, the heroes of this article cannot bite through too dense a “skin”. Therefore, they almost do not settle in whole watermelons, melons, etc. Everything soft is preferred.
"Fruit" are able to lay offspring in decaying organic matter. Therefore, they settle in sinks with clogged drains along with sewer flies. Hence the confusion between the two.
The midge is born early in the morning. A person is sleeping at this time and may not notice how hordes of insects appeared from the emptiness in his house.
Taste preferences of fruit flies are democratic utterly - usually it's fruit. The Tephritid species alone feeds and breeds on 400 plant species.
They also enter the house through open windows and entrance doors . The midge loves to live in one location, but still it can make very serious flights on its weak wings if it is deprived of food. This is the basis of the simple principle of fighting fruit flies: leave them without a nutrient medium ... and they stupidly fly away!
In nature, there are natural baits for midges. These are manure and lake water, spicy and sweet smells. Flies are even attracted to air fresheners if they smell like orange, lemon or cherry. If insects have not yet appeared in your house, it is better not to overdo it with these smells. And they will definitely come.
Fruit flies are slow but attentive. They capture fast movements well and fly away. Therefore, when hunting midges, move smoothly, like a Japanese ninja.
The midge loves moisture and does not like dry surfaces.. She's hardly afraid hard frost and loves alcohol.

Now that you know everything about them, it's time to talk about how to get rid of midges in the apartment. Personally, we believe that fruit flies do not need to be killed. After all, they are not set against a person, and the harm from them is accidental. True, to bring them "bloodless", you need to spend more time. But for those who do not have time to wait, there are more drastic measures. We will talk about those and others below.

How to get rid of midges in the kitchen: basic rules

The most important trump card in the fight against fruit flies is cleanliness. The appearance of minor foci of activity of these insects is eliminated for one or two. The main thing is to find the source of their distribution and destroy it. But if the midge lives in your house all the time, then you need to resort to a whole system of destruction. She combines preventive measures and cleaning methods.

Here are a few items that are included in this "system":

Find the source of distribution and destroy it. Do not spare food: just one rotten apple can spoil your whole vegetable store. Moreover, the product must be completely disposed of. Do not just wash or throw in the trash - but immediately take it out of the house. It is advisable to ventilate and moisten the "captured territory".
To quickly get rid of midges in the kitchen, destroy the nutrient which can become the "new home" of midges. These are scraps of food, raw meat, rotten fruits and simply overripe fruits. Do not store food in warm open places. Cover them with at least a plate or thick paper. Regularly clean the sink of organic residues.

Any sweetish, sour and winey liquid in open vessel or a vessel is the best bait for mosquitoes. Wash glasses after drinking juices, plates with honey residue and seal tightly wine bottles.
After such a "general cleaning" take care of the little things. To get rid of midges, regularly wash the rags with which you wipe the dishes and wipe the washed fruit. Wash your floorcloth. Clean the kitchen table from crumbs, sticky stains and any dirt. Remember about gas stoves: their surface must be scrubbed with special tool at least once a week. Take out the trash regularly! On the second or third day, you already fall into the risk zone. Especially in summer.
Create natural midge barriers in your home e. Do not open the window for a long time or hang a small mosquito net there. Put the fan in front kitchen table or fruit storage areas. It will blow away and destroy insects. Even with a weak "breeze" they will not be able to land on the "bridgehead".

How to get rid of midges in the apartment: the best remedies

On the Internet, we also found some "folk methods". Their effectiveness is difficult to verify, so we decided to simply list the most original tips.

Vacuum cleaner. Dozens of users love to hunt midges with a vacuum cleaner. A spectacular tool (you feel like a hunter or a killer robot), but ineffective. The next day, you still have to hunt for a young midge. Although devices like this portable vacuum cleaner for sucking mosquitoes continue to be popular - it's at least fun, well, a few midges will be less.

Atomizer and humidifiers. More reliable tool. Insects really can't fly with wet wings. True, here you have to correctly adjust the humidification mode. Yes, and dried insects will return to your kitchen again.

Ultraviolet and ultrasonic traps. The midge flies not very willingly on light "zappers", but it flies. But the effect of ultrasound against them has not yet been proven. Personally, we doubt the effectiveness of such funds.

adhesive tape . To be honest, it is ineffective against midges. They will fly on Velcro only if it smells like their favorite food. Smell strongly. Or if you put the appropriate bait next to it - about it.

"Home Repellents". Different people brag about the effectiveness of the repulsive aromas of horseradish, mint, cloves, laundry soap, vanillin ... True, some of these funds were included in the list " folk methods"of the methods of combating "biting" midges and mosquitoes. And these are slightly different insects. However, you can try - after all, we are talking about very cheap means

Comparative table of remedies for midges

Name	Purpose	Price
Manual vacuum cleaner	Sucks up midges
Humidifier	Immobilizes - the ability to fly
light trap	Lures midges with light and destroys
adhesive tape	Lures, catches midges

How to make a fruit fly trap: 3 best homemade fruit fly traps

Homemade homemade traps for fruit flies are very different from traps for sewer flies, mosquitoes or big flies. We have already said that duct tape against these critters is a bad option. You need to catch them in special ways.

Below we will tell you about the three most popular homemade traps. They all work on a similar principle: insects are attracted to the structure by an attractant, and then they cannot fly out in any way.

1. "Banana trap" for fruit flies. Fruit midge is very similar to minions :). They are just as small, yellowish and very fond of bananas. This similarity must be taken advantage of. Put the banana peel in the empty plastic bottle or even a package. Poke holes in the container with a toothpick or small needle, and then place it closer to the habitat of insects. In a day or two, a significant part of their population will fly there. But they won’t be able to fly out - in their chaotic flight they simply won’t find holes. After all, midges fly to the smell of an attractant, and springs " fresh air"They don't know how to track. Caught midges can be killed or released into the street.

2. Liquid trap. There are several liquid trap recipes on the Internet. In the simplest cases, the authors of these developments recommend simply pouring a mixture of syrup and honey, or beer, wine and juices into a deep plate. Very often, just wine vinegar is poured there. Like, insects will sit on the "water" and drown in it. But we advise readers to complicate this construction. Pour a mixture of white wine and coriander seeds into a bowl (you can use just wine or balsamic vinegar). Put in the peeled fruit. And cover the top with plastic wrap. It remains only to make holes in it with a fork or a toothpick ... and the liquid trap is ready. Flies will sink faster with such a transparent "ceiling".

3. "Trap-cone". First find an empty glass jar and then put something "appetizing" in it. For example, a piece of rotten fruit or a midge's favorite orange. Place a sharp paper cone in the neck of the jar. As a result, insects will again be able to fly into the jar, but will not be able to fly out. The number of the catch and its behavior can be monitored visually.

Choosing a ready-made trap for fruit flies

If you don't want to mess around with sugary and sticky liquids and keep rotting fruit in your house in glass jar, then you should pay attention to branded traps against fruit midges.

A set of six compact transparent traps, sharpened specifically for fruit flies, which costs from 700 rubles. If you believe the description of the product, then the action of each trap is enough for about a month. It is easy to calculate that one set in this case should be enough for 6 months of continuous use.

The traps also come with a non-toxic liquid chemical. So it can be replaced with wine or Apple vinegar. The BEAPCO operating principle combines the advantages of liquid and conical traps: flies fly into the plastic box through a cone-shaped hole, and there is no way back for them. They don't die from poisons - they just stay trapped. But, unlike bulky "homemade", they can be placed throughout the apartment and not be afraid of leaks, turning or bad smells.

According to user reviews, by the fourth day of use, fruit flies literally fill the trap. One user writes: “I set 3 of these traps and after a day 2 of them were completely filled with fruit flies. You can't even imagine how many there were... After 1-2 weeks, not a single one flew. All in all, it works."

True, a small group of users believe that the branded attractant acts worse than natural ones. But they love the box. Diana writes: “In the first month, nothing was caught, although these midges were buzzing everywhere - the trap was empty. But when I poured vinegar into it, these little flyers began to fight over who would fly inside it first. So the container itself is cool.”

known trap TERRO Fruit Fly Trap T2500 certainly cannot be blamed for the fact that, in addition to fruit flies, she can lure and beneficial insects- butterflies and moths will not get into it. The trap is designed specifically for "fruit insects" - it is even made in the form of a ripe apple. That would bite! In all respects, TERRO Fruit Fly Trap resembles BEAPCO. "Apple" is also hermetically sealed, smells good and keeps "alive" for 30 days. It has the same problems and the same benefits. And only the attractant formula changes here - it's just tinted apple cider vinegar.

But these are not all options - fruit flies can be eliminated using sticky traps. But not the usual yellow sticky tapes, to which we are so accustomed, but special sticky sheets, which come with an effective bait liquid (usually it is still the same vinegar mixed with other ingredients). Pay attention to German trap "Aeroxon" for fruit flies. On the sticky sheets apples and oranges are not just depicted - this way you can additionally attract the attention of fruit midges!

Some users complain that all such traps simply do not work. But maybe it's not about them, but about the wrong definition of a pest? After all, we wrote above what to confuse different types small insects in the house is very easy. If the flies are not attracted to the bait in the trap, it is possible that they are simply not fruit flies, but, for example, sewer or “mushroom” flies.

Let's find out what needs to be done if the flies turned out to be completely fruitless.

Getting rid of fungus gnats in indoor plants

If you notice small midges in pots with indoor plants, then most likely these are mushroom gnats. Here are a few steps to get rid of these pests:

Stop watering your plants- eggs and larvae of fungal mosquitoes can live and develop only in moist soil.
Use chemical or biological insecticides for tillage in pots. You can use chemicals based on bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin or natural ones - nematode worms or a special strain of live bacteria B.t.i (Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis). The latter can be purchased as loose granules or pressed discs.
Purchase sticky traps for adult flying mushroom mosquitoes.
Adjust the watering regime to prevent waterlogging of the soil. Otherwise, this is a direct road to the return of mosquitoes!

If flies fly from the sewers

Well, if your flies have chosen a sink or other parts of the sewer as their home, then clean the bathroom or kitchen, throw out the trash, eliminate sources of standing water and feel free to buy pipe cleaning gel. It contains orange oil and bacteria that dissolve living organic matter, destroying and sewer midges, and their "children". Gel from Invade does not contain harsh chemicals and can be used as a spray (use a spray bottle for this purpose).

If the blockage cannot be broken through with organic means, use effective chemicals, which will cope with any blockages - and thereby destroy the nutrient medium for breeding sewer flies. Proved welldrain cleaner and sewer pipes Flat "Gel Turbo"- judging by the reviews, it cleans really quickly!

Let's summarize

To be honest, the fruit midge is not the kind of insect that should be tackled with chemistry. To get rid of midges in the kitchen, we recommend that you choose industrial or homemade traps, as well as keep your home clean and tidy. So you will not only destroy the generation of midges, but also save yourself from reappearance this small pest. And finally a couple valuable advice:

Do not leave organic waste in the house for a long time, especially in summer. If you go somewhere, be sure to throw it away - even one banana peel left in a bucket will surely lead to the appearance of fruit flies in a few days.
When buying fruits and vegetables, check them for integrity and freshness.- rotten fruits can become a home breeding ground for fruit midges.

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The fruit fly is an annoying insect that causes a lot of trouble in the kitchen.

Drosophila flies, vinegar and wine flies, namely the so-called small black midge, harm your prestige and disturb peace in the kitchen. They are not dangerous for human life and health. These annoying creatures are found almost everywhere, with the exception of regions with a harsh cold climate. If you examine this crumb under a magnifying glass, you will find that it looks like an ordinary fly.

Where do these insects come from in the apartment? It seems that the doors and windows are closed, the windows are protected by a fine mesh, and the gnat - here it is, flying like a cloud over your flowers or a trash can. There are main sources of insect penetration into your apartment:

box with vegetables and fruits. It is worth some fruit to spoil a little, it becomes a tasty bait for midges. If eggs were laid on an apple or grapes in a store, insects will appear in a matter of hours, even the temperature of the vegetable box in the refrigerator will not stop them;
the trash can is the favorite place for these creatures. Spoiled food is ideal soil for reproduction and nutrition;
sink drain - food waste accumulates in a glass or sump. You may not see them, but know that the midge finds this dirt and uses it for food and reproduction;
ventilation systems with access to neighbors. It is rare that someone protects the internal exits to the ventilation ducts with a fine mesh, so that it is not difficult for insects to get over to you from less clean neighbors;
indoor plants - midge eggs are often found in the ground and are waiting for favorable conditions for them: heat and humidity.

Basic principles: how to get rid of midges in an apartment or private house

We figured out where wine midges come from and listed the main reasons for their appearance. Now it's time to talk about how to get rid of midges in the kitchen. Do not rush to look for the phone of the pest control service. Start by reviewing your habits, because they are often the main reason for the reproduction of harmful insects. Find the source of the problem and fix it: get in the habit of washing fruits and vegetables brought from the store, take out the trash more often than you usually do, do not leave dirty dishes in the sink for a long time.

But if the problem has already appeared, there are several ways to quickly solve it.

Related article:

How to get rid of cockroaches in the apartment forever: home-made products and industrial insecticides, why cockroaches can settle in an apartment, what to do to prevent this from happening, tips on making do-it-yourself traps and recipes for preparing insect mixtures, reviews on the effectiveness of different methods - in our publication.

Folk and factory remedies for midges in the kitchen

So you've spotted a swarm of tiny insects in your kitchen. First of all, determine the place that attracted them. If it's a plate of fruit, sort through it, wash it, and discard any spoiled fruit. You already know where midges on fruits come from, most likely you brought them from the store. Cover the plate with a napkin or, even better, put it in the refrigerator.

The sink drain must be filled with cleaning liquid or a solution of soda and vinegar.

There are very effective folk recipes on how to get rid of a small midge in the kitchen. Let's consider them in more detail.

Folk recipes: what helps against midges

A person can use many methods of dealing with annoying insects, and most of them are based on the use of improvised means. So, how to get rid of midges at home, several options.

Remedy 1: fresh horseradish root

Fruit Drosophila does not like the pungent smell of this plant. If you spread pieces of horseradish on shelves and cabinets, the flies will seek salvation in a panic. Leave a window open for them.

Remedy 2: camphor oil

If there is an aroma lamp in the house, pour camphor into it and place it indoors. You can simply heat the oil in an iron mug over the burner. You can use fir, eucalyptus, clove, lemon, and lavender essential oils for the same effect.

Remedy 3: smoke

If you have tobacco, juniper needles, incense or spruce cones on hand, set fire to it in an ashtray. Close the door to the kitchen, but do not forget to open the window. The smoke will drive out the midge.

Remedy 4: Vinegar and soapy water

Add a glass of warm water, some dish soap, apple cider vinegar and sugar. Instead of vinegar, you can add wine. By smell, it will be similar to the favorite delicacy of insects. Tighten the top of the glass with vacuum film and make a small hole. The midge will rush into the trap and drown. Place these traps in places where insects gather.

Remedy 5: wormwood and wheatgrass

A decoction of wormwood or wheat grass weed is sprayed in places where fruit midges appear. By the way, this method will also save you from mosquitoes in nature, apply the composition to open areas of the body.

Remedy 6: vanillin

Vanilla flavors in the kitchen are very appropriate, but fruit flies don't like them. Spray the vanillin solution around the kitchen or arrange the vanilla sticks on the shelves.

Remedy 7: Garlic

Crush a few garlic cloves and soak in water for a couple of hours. Use the prepared tincture to water the plants.

Remedy 8: Geranium

Keep a couple pots of geraniums on your kitchen windowsill. The fly does not like this fragrant flower very much and will bypass your kitchen.

Factory tools: how to poison midges

We have studied options for how to get rid of midges with folk remedies. Household chemical stores offer chemicals in aerosol packages and various kinds of Velcro to combat midges.

Remedy 9: Velcro

Simple and safe for people means. These are just tapes with a layer of glue on which insects sit down and stick. This tape, strewn with corpses of flies, does not look very pretty, but it works very effectively. The main thing is to place it in a place where you would not hit it by accident, or your cat or dog would not fall into such a trap.

Remedy 10: Aerosol Insecticides

These chemicals can harm people and pets, so they are sprayed outdoors. Don't forget to cover the aquarium if you have fish living in your kitchen. After spraying the chemical, the doors to the room are closed, and after an hour the kitchen is thoroughly ventilated. Of the popular remedies, Raptor, Dichlorvos, Deta, Raftamid, Cobra and Mosquitol should be noted.

How to get rid of midges in the kitchen mechanically

Velcro of all kinds is an effective tool. A sticky trap is easy to make with your own hands.

Remedy 11: cardboard and honey

Cut out a strip of yellow cardstock. If it is not at hand, use thick yellow paper. Lubricate it with honey, secure with tape on a wooden skewer and stick it in a flower pot or an apple in a fruit bowl.

How to get rid of midges in the kitchen, depending on their origin

Tiny flies can swarm around fruits, onions, settle in cereals and flour, live in sewers or a flower pot. Depending on their habitat, you should select the appropriate tool.

How to quickly get rid of fruit flies

If a swarm has settled over a fruit basket, prepare a simple trap for it.

Remedy 12: syrup and soda

The trap will require a bottle. Sweet syrup, fruit soda or juice is poured at the bottom. Fold a sheet of paper into a bag and insert it into the neck of the bottle. Flies will enter through a tiny hole at the tip of the bag, and they will not be able to get back. Caught flies are poured with soapy water and poured into the sewer or into the street. Insects hatch from eggs on the 8th day, so for the complete destruction of the colony, it will take at least two weeks to update the trap.

How to get rid of onion midge

If you do not remove the onion from the plastic bag, it will suffocate and begin to rot. The smell will certainly attract mosquitoes. How to remove onion midges from the kitchen?

Remedy 13: sawdust

Sort through the whole onion, remove the spoiled bulbs. Then put the onion in a box and cover with dry sawdust. So, you will save root crops for a long time and get rid of insects that do not like the smell of sawdust.

How to get rid of insects in cereals

Remedy 14: Freezer

Conduct a complete audit of all bulk products. It's a pity, but the infected cereals will have to be thrown away. Some advise to bake them in the oven or rinse with water, but you yourself understand that such procedures do not improve the quality of the product. Don't put off going to the dumpster: while you're fiddling around in the kitchen, small occupiers can leave the selected boxes and move into clean ones.

How to effectively get rid of midges in indoor flowers

The most common cause of insects in a flower pot is contaminated soil. If there is such a suspicion, it is better to transplant plants. How to get rid of midges at home in flowers?

Remedy 15: potassium permanganate

Pour the soil in pots with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Do not overdo it with concentration, otherwise you can destroy the flower.

Remedy 16: matches

The midge does not like the smell and taste of sulfur. Take a matchbox and stick the match heads into the ground. The bigger, the better. Feel free to water the flower and change the matches as the sulfur dissolves.

Remedy 17: Citrus

Arrange the peel of a lemon, orange, grapefruit, or tangerine in a pot. The smell will repel mosquitoes.

Remedy 18: Ash

Sprinkle a thin layer of wood ash over the soil in the pot. This will not only repel insects, but also fertilize your plantings.

How to permanently get rid of sewer midges

Sewer flies are very small - only a couple of millimeters. They are especially active towards the night, when people do not interfere with them swarming around the drain holes. The most unpleasant thing is that such insects, after traveling through drains, can also sit on food in the kitchen. So it is imperative to deal with such unwanted guests.

Remedy 19: boiling water

To kill eggs and larvae in drains, pour boiling water over them. You will need at least 4 liters of hot liquid. For greater confidence in the result after spilling, add some kind of cleaning chemical to the drain, for example, "Mole".

Remedy 20: fly swatter

Everything ingenious is simple. In the end, the most commonplace way to get rid of small midges in the kitchen is to physically destroy them. Arm yourself with a fly swatter or just a rolled-up newspaper - and into battle!

Prevention measures

The most important and effective preventive measure is cleanliness. Do not leave spoiled food, regularly clean the sewer and take out the trash. Cover windows with fine mesh, keep an eye on houseplants, and don't leave food in your pet's bowl. These simple rules will prevent midges from appearing in your kitchen. If you have any more effective ways to deal with fruit flies, share them in the comments.

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Such seemingly harmless midges bring a lot of trouble to the hostesses of apartments and houses. In addition to the fact that midges in the apartment are carriers of a mass of diseases, their vinegars are very painful and can cause swelling and itching. These insects multiply very quickly and cause a lot of trouble to remove them.

There are many ways to deal with midges in an apartment - from folk remedies to a variety of chemical sprays and fumigators. But all methods will be powerless if you do not apply them comprehensively, and do not simultaneously carry out insect prevention in the apartment.

Where do midges come from: we eliminate the cause

Most often, two varieties of midges appear in the apartment: fruit midges - Drosophila and soil midges - scyriades. If you do not find a place for their distribution, then the fight against midges will be useless, because. they will appear again and again.

Important! Before you get rid of midges in the apartment, you first need to find a place that has become their breeding ground in the apartment.

Where do midges come from in the apartment:

Dirty fruits and vegetables brought from the garden or store. If insect eggs were laid on the fruits, then in a favorable environment (as the fruit rots), small midges begin to quickly appear in the apartment from them. The life span of midges is short (about a day), but in the presence of a favorable nutrient medium (rotting fruit, for example), they multiply at a high rate.
Bin. Irregular garbage removal is one of the most common reasons why midges appear in the apartment. In the remnants of food in the bin, there may be insect eggs, which, in the process of decay of the waste, begin to actively wake up. Food debris that has fallen on the surface of the bucket (if the bucket is not washed) can cause a whole army of insects to appear.
Pets' corner. Many midges are very fond of settling in living corners - rodent or bird cages, aquariums, etc. Leftover food or a poorly washed pet bowl, an aquarium with water that has not been changed for a long time, is an excellent environment for midges to settle.
Houseplants. Midges are very fond of indoor plants, especially if the soil is overly moist. Some housewives water the plants with tea leaves, which can also cause the active spread of midges, because. they are very fond of tea and its leaves.
Neighbours. Midges can enter the apartment through the ventilation ducts from unscrupulous neighbors.
Sewerage and plumbing. When entering the pipes, food particles can get stuck in siphons and folds, where they begin to decompose. This process can lead to the appearance of entire hordes of midges, which are not so easy to deal with.

Important! Midges most often enter the apartment with the help of the person himself, but the further spread of midges depends on the cleanliness of the room and the timely cleaning of water and sewer pipes.

After the cause of the appearance of midges is established, the fight against uninvited guests should be started with the help of preventive and sanitary measures.

How to quickly remove midges

The first thing to do in order to quickly remove the midges from the apartment is to carry out a general cleaning of the premises: wash all surfaces, remove crumbs, wipe the floor behind the furniture, throw away all products with the slightest sign of spoilage.

10 tips on how to get midges out of the apartment:

Conduct a thorough audit of all kitchen cabinets where vegetable products and cereals are stored. It is necessary to check that there are no traces of prettiness and dampness in the places where cereals are stored. If necessary, cereals should be poured into dry and hermetically sealed jars, and all loose products with traces of spoilage should be immediately taken to the trash.
Sort through all the fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables - put in the refrigerator, spoiled - throw in the trash.
Vacuum the places where midges accumulate. If there are a lot of midges, you should vacuum all surfaces where hordes of black midges are seen.
Take out the trash daily, and be sure to wash and dry the trash can.
Do not leave leftover food, sweet drinks in glasses, tea and tea bags on the tables. If there is a small child at home, then you should pay attention to the place where there is a high chair - children very often scatter food, and even a small piece of uneaten food can attract a lot of midges.
Check the filters and siphons under the sinks (especially in the kitchen), treat them with special products if necessary.
Treat with special sprays the entire room where midges appeared. In this case, you should be careful, especially if there are animals and small children in the house. It is better to carry out the procedure in a respirator and special gloves.
If indoor plants serve as a source of midges, you need to change the soil or treat the soil with special insecticides. It should be ensured that the soil is not waterlogged - do not fill the plants with water, regularly loosen the soil.
Do not leave unwashed dishes in the sink.
Regularly monitor the cleanliness of the living area.

Special insect repellents that can be purchased at almost any supermarket will help you quickly get rid of midges.

Effective remedies for midges:

Aerosols (Dichlorvos, Raptor, Reid, Kombat). Before using the product, you need to remove all toys, food, cover all surfaces with a film. The procedure is best done with the windows closed, after putting on overalls, but after treatment, the room must be thoroughly ventilated.
Fumigators (Reid, Kombat, Fumitoks, Moskitol). Safer than aerosols, but no less effective. The disadvantage of the fumigator is that it begins to act after 3-4 hours, and the complete disposal of insects occurs after 6-7 hours.
Repellents (Off!, Gardex, Mosquitol). In the case of the repellent there is a special strip impregnated with chemical toxic substances that repel midges. Repellents are convenient to use, because. they can be hung in any room, but are not safe for other household inhabitants, so the room must be ventilated often.
Insecticides (Grom-2, Mukhoed, Bazudin). They are used for the soil of plants, if indoor plants have become the source of the appearance of midges.
Pipe cleaners (Floop, Mister Muscle, Mole, Tiret). The product is poured into the sink and left for a while. This will help not only eliminate midges, but get rid of all blockages in the pipes.

All chemicals are very effective in dealing with annoying midges, but they are far from safe for humans, and they are not always cheap. Therefore, a good alternative to purchased products are folk methods of insect control.

Folk remedies for midges

You can get rid of midges with your own home remedies: making traps or using certain scents that repel insects.

How to get rid of fruit flies in the apartment:

Aroma oils (aromas of cloves, verbena, ylang-ylang, patchouli). It is worth installing aroma lamps with the addition of recycled oils in the room, as midges will immediately leave the room.
Camphor. Camphor is crushed and poured into a frying pan, preheated well. As soon as steam begins to stand out, the fire is turned off, and the pan is carefully carried around the entire perimeter of the room. The aroma of camphor will instantly scare away midges. It should be noted that camphor vapors are absolutely safe for others, including animals and small children.
Geranium and tomatoes in a flowerpot. If these plants are present on the window sills in the apartment, midges will never start indoors.
Basil, anise, eucalyptus, horseradish- The smell of these plants repels insects.
orange and cloves. A few sticks of cloves are stuck into an orange and placed in places where midges accumulate.

Traps- the safest and most effective way to deal with midges, you can make them from any materials at hand.

We remove the midge using traps:

From a plastic cup: a bait is placed at the bottom of the cup: a piece of overripe fruit or vegetable, honey, sweet water, compote, etc. From above, the glass is closed with a plastic film, in which small holes are made. The glass is left overnight in the kitchen, and in the morning its contents, along with the caught midges, are poured into the toilet.
From a container of dishwashing solution. In a container where a little soap solution remains, apple cider vinegar, compote, juice, wine, etc. are poured to attract fruit flies. Insects will flock to the bait and drown because of the agent, which reduces the surface tension of the liquid.
sticky traps. Cut paper sheets into thin strips, which should be moistened in a solution of three tablespoons of black pepper, a glass of milk, and one tablespoon of sugar. Traps are hung around the entire perimeter of the apartment, which creates some inconvenience, but it helps to quickly "collect" all midges.
Beer or wine bottle. Leaving such a simple bait overnight, you can collect a lot of midges that will fly to the bait and "stick" to the bottom of the bottle.

To get rid of midges in pots with indoor plants, you should stick matches into the soil with their heads down and reduce the amount of water for watering for a while.

To remove midges from sewer and water pipes, you need to pour a little soda into the sink hole, and after 5-7 minutes pour 1-2 cups of vinegar. After 20 minutes, flush the pipes with water.

Getting rid of midges in an apartment is a laborious and troublesome task. Therefore, it is better to prevent their appearance in the apartment, keeping the room clean and tidy, removing garbage in the apartment and living corners of pets on time, paying attention to the maintenance of indoor plants and the condition of sewer and water pipes.

The fruit fly is a small, harmless insect, but it is always unpleasant to find one in the house. She is attracted by the smell of spoiled fruits, nectar in the flowers of houseplants. In the warm season, Drosophila can fly into a living space from the street, if you simply sprinkle an air freshener with a berry or fruit aroma in the room. How to get rid of fruit flies in the apartment? What means should be used?

fruit fly on peel

Where do fruit flies come from in the house?

There are several ways for a fly to enter an apartment:

The insect chooses soft, slightly or badly spoiled fruits as a place for laying eggs, since their peel is easier to bite through. Since both the fly itself and its eggs are small, it is almost impossible to notice that a vegetable or fruit is infected.
Fly larvae and eggs can appear in the house along with potting soil.
Open windows without mosquito nets or open doors are another way that an insect can get into an apartment. Midges fly to the smell of fruits, indoor flowers or spoiled food.

Where to look for fruit fly larvae in an apartment?

To get rid of these small insects, it is not enough just to destroy adults - Drosophila actively reproduce, the female is able to lay about 20 eggs at a time, and in 2 months (this is the life span of an adult insect), she can produce up to 2000 eggs. Insects hatch in the early morning, and already 8 hours later, the female is ready to breed. If you do not start the fight against Drosophila in time, it will easily fill the whole house.

The most common habitats of midges:

A trash can or a bowl of pet food - this is where the optimal conditions are created for laying eggs and the accumulation of adult insects, because there is no shortage of food in such a place.
Pots with indoor flowers. Wet ground, fallen leaves that begin to rot are also attractive to the insect.
Storage areas for fruits and vegetables. If there are several fruits in the container, one of them may begin to deteriorate before the others, and the flies will definitely smell.

Are fruit flies harmful?

In fact, fruit flies do not cause much damage: they do not have the slightest interest in a person or animal, they do not bite them, they do not spread dangerous diseases. The only, and even then hardly a possible threat is the risk of getting an intestinal disorder. There is such a possibility if you eat a fruit infected with larvae.

How to deal with fruit fly?

Having noticed the appearance of uninvited guests in the house, you need to carefully inspect the apartment and find all the spoiled food: a fruit forgotten on the table, sour food leftovers in the bin, pet food spoiled in the heat in a bowl. If tea brewing is used as a top dressing for indoor flowers, pots with earth should also be examined.

All discovered possible sources of the appearance of Drosophila must be immediately disposed of by sending them to the trash. Containers for storing fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed to remove larvae and eggs that are invisible to the eye from the surfaces.

Flowers need to be transplanted into pots with fresh soil. If part of the leaves or flowers of the plant began to rot, they are removed. Houseplants themselves are often watered, but little by little - waterlogged soil attracts midges.

Folk methods

To clear the apartment of midges, you can build traps yourself:

Since one of the Drosophila's favorite treats is the banana, it can be used as bait. Remove the peel from the fruit, put it in a plastic bag or plastic bottle. Using a toothpick, several holes are made in polyethylene or plastic. Leave the trap near the habitat of midges. Over the next 2 days, a significant part of the midges will fly inside, but they will not be able to get out.
As much as bananas, the Drosophila fruit fly loves honey, fruit juice, or apple cider vinegar. The trap is made like this: they take a deep container, pour one of the listed liquids into it, cover it with a bag or cling film. Make holes with a toothpick. Insects attracted by the smell will climb into the trap.
Another possible option is to use a glass jar. At the bottom of it put a piece of banana, orange or any spoiled fruit. From a sheet of paper make a cone with a small hole at the top. Turning it over, insert the blank into the neck of the bottle. The midges will easily get inside the jar, but they will not be able to fly back.
Beer, water diluted with sugar and yeast is poured into a disposable cup and left near the accumulation of insects. Having heard a tempting smell, the midges will fly at him and drown.

In addition to traps, other means can be used.

smoking out

Crushed solid camphor is placed in an old frying pan (one that you won’t be sorry to throw away), put on fire. As soon as the frying pan is hot and steam comes out, the container is carried through all the premises of the apartment. For a person, the resulting smoke is not dangerous, but midges will not tolerate it.

Poison for midges

A couple of poisonous insect treat recipes:

½ cup of milk is mixed with 40 g of sugar and the same amount of ground black pepper. A paper napkin or a piece of toilet paper is soaked in the liquid, put on a plate next to the midges. After a while, there will be no insects left.
10 g of honey is combined with 1 g of saccharin, a napkin is moistened with this composition. Lay on the windowsill.

Vacuum cleaner

The place where the midges have accumulated is treated with a vacuum cleaner. The working unit will draw insects into itself, locking them in a dust bag. You need to empty the container outside the apartment.

Cold

Drosophila are very sensitive to temperature, hypothermia is fatal for them. If they attacked the apartment in the winter, it is enough just to leave the window in the kitchen open when leaving the house. After a few hours, all the flies will die.

So you can destroy already adults, but if the larvae remain somewhere, then after a while the insects will appear again. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to thoroughly wash the bin and bowl of the pet, pour the earth in flower pots with a solution of manganese.

Potassium permanganate or matches

This method is suitable if the flies are wound up on the plant. A weak solution of manganese is prepared, flowers are treated with it twice a month.

You can also use ordinary matches: they are stuck head down into the ground in a pot. The sulfur from the match will kill the larvae.

Geranium

Fruit flies do not tolerate the smell of geraniums. If midges are bred in the kitchen, you need to get rid of spoiled fruits and put a pot with this plant on the windowsill of the room.

Garlic

They do not like midges and the smell of garlic, so laying out the crushed head next to the Drosophila habitat helps. After a few hours, there will be no insects.

orange and cloves

A stick of spice is stuck into the peel of an orange, placed next to the place where midges gather.

store funds

How do you get rid of fruit flies if you don't have time to fiddle with building traps or preparing poisonous compounds? You can use ready-made traps or preparations.

Manufacturers offer a choice of:

Repellents. Tapes impregnated with chemical compounds, from which fumes poisonous insects emanate. Such funds cannot be called completely safe for humans - the room in which the tape is located must be ventilated.
Sprays. Special fluids containing fatty acids, getting on the larvae and insects, destroy them. They pose no danger to humans.
Zappers. Modern devices that affect insects with electricity. The only drawback of some models is the high power consumption.
Traps. Factory-made traps do not contain poison, most of them use a substance that attracts insects, and the midge that flies into the trap dies of hunger, unable to get out. You can even put such devices in the kitchen without fear that they will harm a person or animal.

Preventive measures

It is not difficult to prevent the appearance of Drosophila in an apartment, it is enough:

keep clean;
regularly (at least once a day) take out the bucket;
wash dishes immediately after a meal;
discard spoiled fruits immediately;
do not leave food in the pet's bowl for a long time, remove it as soon as the animal eats.

If the midges have nothing to eat, they will not appear in the apartment.

Even if the midges are wound up in the apartment, you should not immediately rush to the store for chemicals - you can get rid of them without the use of toxic substances.

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