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Still fruity
Now I know how to generate lots of comments. Pestilence!
To respond to your helpful suggestions for getting rid of fruit flies: We don't have (or need) A/C, just heat (with an unfiltered intake and ducts that are already fillllthy -- topic for another post). I have checked all the trash cans and around the trash cans, as well as under the kitchen sink. All swimsuits and dirty workout clothes are accounted for. And yes, we had a heat wave (or two), but we've been back to regular cool SF summer weather for a while now.
The strangest thing is that they are concentrated on the sink backsplash, the wall above it, and now the doorway between kitchen and dining room. I have cleaned these areas many times. I'm starting to wonder if they are attracted to the scent of Windex itself. I have read that fruity-smelling dish soap can attract fruit flies. I don't really consider Windex to have a foodlike smell, but I'm not finely tuned into the tastes of Drosophila melanogaster either.
Thanks for the ideas, and keep them coming.
July 3, 2008 11:04 PM
Ah, well, it was worth asking (about the a/c). We suffer the same little plagues, from the fruit coming in from our CSA box usually, but they die out pretty quickly. My question is: where are they breeding? See http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef621.asp to learn a bit more about where they tend to lay their eggs & mature, and you'll have an idea about where to nuke the things.
Good luck!