How to quickly deal with the invasion of vegetable midges?

Vegetable midges do not pose any direct threat to humans. One, in spite of this, they are able to spoil food and fruit stands. In addition, these insects reproduce very quickly. For these reasons, it is advisable to get rid of them immediately, with the appearance of several pests.

Who are vegetable gnats?

Vegetable midges - this is a collective concept and by it you can mean several dozen species of insects. Most often, Drosophila are used as these pests, but they are far from the only ones.
In general, all vegetable midges, whoever they are, are small insects, no larger than 3 mm in size. The body, as a rule, is oval, somewhat elongated or bulbous in shape. The color of their integuments can be different, depending on the species: from yellow to dark brown or black. Vegetable midges have a pair of wings and 3-4 pairs of legs. These parasites fly slowly, keep in packs.

Malware

Vegetable midges are the most dangerous for warehouses and food storages, as well as for shops and catering establishments. And, of course, they deliver certain inconveniences to summer residents and citizens.

Life cycle

Vegetable midges reproduce very quickly, especially in a favorable environment when there is free access to food. Females do egg laying exclusively on nutritious surfaces, which can include various vegetables, fruits, as well as flavored cheeses left to us and rotting food waste in the bin.

After some time, larvae emerge from the eggs, which continue to live in their "edible" house. After about 10 days, they turn into adult flying insects.

On a note! Eggs and larvae of vegetable midges are invisible to humans, as they are very small and often the same color as the fruit. For this reason, they often end up in apartments with contaminated vegetables or fruits. And after some time we see flying midges in our kitchen!

Methods of struggle

In order to completely get rid of vegetable midges, an integrated approach is needed, which involves both the use of traps and thorough cleaning in all rooms where they were found.

Cleanliness

Let's start by bringing perfect cleanliness to the house, especially in those rooms where there is food. The main task in this case is to find the source of distribution of vegetable flies and its mandatory destruction.
However, such a measure is far from the only one - if these insects have been “living” with you for quite some time, then you need to apply a whole range of measures.

1. We sort through the products that are stored openly: they can be on tables, in vases, in a pantry or in kitchen cabinets. In this case, it is necessary to throw away absolutely all spoiled vegetables and fruits. Therefore, we put them in a bin and immediately take them outside the apartment.
2. We remove all fresh vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator. In extreme cases, they should be folded in a plastic bag and hidden in some cool place.In the sun and on a working battery, we leave nothing.
3. The sink must always be clean and dry. Wash the dishes immediately after eating, then be sure to select the remaining food from the sink and wipe it with a dry cloth. Glasses after sweet juices, cups after tea, glasses after wine - all this dishes can also attract vegetable midges, therefore it should also be washed immediately after use.
4. Bakery products may also attract these parasites, so it is advisable to store them either in bags or in a well-closed bread box.
5. It is not uncommon when vegetable gnats somewhat change their usual diet and turn their attention to pet food. For this reason, you need to monitor the cleanliness of your pet's bowls.
6. Garbage should be taken out of the house as often as possible, especially if the remnants of vegetables or fruits fall into it, and after that it is imperative to wash and completely dry the bin.
7. After eating, carefully remove from the table: sweep away all the crumbs, clean the surfaces of sweet drops of juice and fruit drinks, then be sure to wipe everything dry.
8. Do not forget about the gas stove, on which pieces of food may well remain after cooking. And all sticky and greasy spots should be removed using a special tool.

Maintaining perfect cleanliness in the apartment for several days, it will be easier to get rid of vegetable midges in the future.

Trap

Three simple traps will help you deal with vegetable midges.

• For the first trap, you will need an empty plastic or glass bottle with a narrow neck, sweet fruit juice and dishwashing liquid, or liquid soap. Pour fragrant juice into the bottle, literally add a teaspoon of soap and mix gently so as not to get foam. The sweet smell will attract insects, and, having climbed into the bottle to the bait, they will no longer be able to fly back.
• To make the second trap, you need to prepare a glass jar, a mug or any other wide-necked container, a piece of thick paper, and a few pieces of rotten vegetables. We spoil the spoiled products in the selected container, make a funnel from paper and insert it into the neck above the bait. Thus, vegetable midges will fly to the bait without any chance to get out later.
• And another simple trap, consisting of a garbage bag and several vegetables. We cut the vegetables into pieces, preferably thinner, and lay them out on an expanded garbage bag. We leave it that way in the kitchen overnight. We do not close the bag so that the insects have free access to food. In the morning we approach the bait and in one quick movement we turn off the package. We immediately take it out of the house and throw it away.

On a note! However, remember that using traps to get rid of all midges at once in one day you will not succeed. So you will only catch flying individuals, who probably already managed to lay eggs on the products! For this reason, the trap should be done daily for a week or two and at the same time follow the recommendations outlined above - observe perfect cleanliness!

Folk methods

There is also a method that helps to scare off vegetable midges well. For its implementation you need an ordinary frying pan and camphor. Before you begin, you should open the windows so that the "escaping" insects have where to fly. So, we thoroughly heat the pan over a fire and pour camphor on it. As soon as camphor gives smoke, we take a pan and walk with it through all the infected rooms, we linger longer in the kitchen. For midges, the smell of camphor is fatal, and for humans, such smoke is absolutely harmless.

Another way to get rid of midges is to use predatory plants. Such vegetation works almost like a bait, attracting insects with a pleasant sweet smell. And after the victim sits on the surface of the trap, it slams, then the plant digests all that are caught.

Such a predator plant is quite unpretentious in care and safe for humans.

The use of any chemicals in the fight against vegetable midges is usually not accepted. In most cases, the methods described above are sufficient. Such natural barriers help pretty well.

In the future, it is desirable to maintain cleanliness in the house, store vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, do not open windows for a long time, and in summer close them with mosquito nets. In stores and markets, pay attention to the products you intend to purchase and make sure that spoiled fruits and vegetables are not in your grocery basket.