where the fuck do fruit flies come from?

[larryhead]

seriously... i left a banana on my desk overnight and today there are friggin fruit flies on it... do these things just lurk in the air looking for tasty fruit to land on?

[bubz_bluez]

they hunt you down threw the hollow ground

bubs

[paul]

I think fruit comes with the fruit fly eggs. We're always eating them, they just hatch into flies when we leave stuff laying around long enough.

Bubz might be right too.

[slam]

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfruitfly.html


It's a little of both, actually. Fruit flies – at least those most familiar to us (Drosophila) – wait to lay their eggs, seeking out fruit that has begun to ferment. The fruit fly's whole sensory apparatus is devoted to sniffing out the distinctive odors of fermentation – that's why you frequently find fruit flies hanging around beer bottles. They generally don't lay their eggs on fresh fruit, though. The larvae feed mostly on yeast, and until a fruit has started to go beyond ripe, there just isn't enough yeast there. The eggs hatch quickly and the larvae develop quickly to make the most of the little time available; a rotting fruit doesn't last very long. If a fruit has started to ferment while in transit or in the market, then it might possibly arrive in your home with eggs or larvae already in it. But if it ripens in your home and then the fruit flies appear, they're new arrivals.

[larryhead]

The eggs hatch quickly and the larvae develop quickly

dude... that is gross.

:barf:

[Ag Au]

just in case anyone has problems with gross fruit flies, here is a great easy and fast way to get rid of them.

in a small bowl mix a small spoon of sugar, a spoon of vinegar, water to fill and a few drops of dish soap to break the surface tension. if the vinegar smell is too strong for you place plastic wrap over the top with holes poked in it large enough for the flies to move through. they love the smell and will be drowned by the next morning.

cheers!

[andikay]

You can leave a little wine out for them and they will drown in that too.