Time Flies Like an Arrow; Fruit Flies Like a Banana

Posted by: Greta on: May 18th, 2006  »  2 comments

A couple weeks ago I wrote about one of my favourite fruits, the banana, and how it irks me when people eat bananas when they’re green (when the bananas are green, not when people are green, in case you’re confused. See previous post: Why I Feel Sorry for Bananas). I promised that I’d do some digging to find out where those pesky little fruit flies come from, since they seem to miraculously appear from nowhere the second your bananas turn brown.

Here’s the buzz: Fruit flies are attracted to the yeasty smell of fermenting fruits and lay their eggs on overripe produce. If you don’t disturb their happy community, these eggs hatch into maggots that feed on the rotting fruit. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it? If that fruit sits in your kitchen, you could be looking at a fruit-fly factory that produces hundreds of the little buggers within a week. But they also breed in drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles and cans, trash containers, mops, and cleaning rags. All that’s needed for development is a moist film of fermenting material. An open wine bottle with just a few drops of wine at the bottom is an all-you-can-breed buffet for the tiny critters.

To create her fruit-fly dynasty, the very ambitious mama fruit fly will lay about 500 eggs. Imagine! The larvae emerge about 30 hours after the eggs have been laid and feed near the surface of your rotting banana for five to six days, then crawl to drier areas of the banana or even out of the food source to pupate, whatever that means. (I got this info from a scientific website.) Actually, I just looked up “pupate” in the dictionary and it said, “To become a pupa.” Gee, thanks. That’s really helpful. So then I looked up “pupa,” cuz Grade 10 science class was a long time ago, and it said, and I quote, “The non-feeding stage between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous insects, during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation within a protective cocoon or hardened case.” Of course! It’s all coming back to me now… “pupate” means “to make a cocoon.” I didn’t realize that fruit flies made cocoons, did you?

Okay, okay, but how do they get into my kitchen in the first place? That’s what I really want to know. Most people think that fruit flies hitch a ride from the supermarket, and while that’s possible, fruit flies don’t like unripe produce and most supermarkets primarily sell unripe fruits and vegetables. The fruit flies in your kitchen most likely get inside from the great outdoors. They smell your ripening bananas or peaches or even tomatoes and are so small they can easily squeeze through window screens. Who’da thunk? You can also bring fruit flies inside when you transport fruits and veggies from your garden. Darn. There goes my theory of “spontaneous generation.” (Actually, it’s not really my theory. It’s an old scientific theory that was tested and laid to rest in 1859 by the French chemist Louis Pasteur. It’s amazing what you can learn just by reading up on fruit flies, huh?)

I usually just whack at fruit flies with a wet towel to get rid of them. It doesn’t work very well, but it sure helps to release pent-up anger! Kidding aside, the best way to avoid fruit-fly problems is to just eat the darn fruit. Really! I mean, you bought it, so why aren’t you eating it? If your fruit is too ripe or rotten, get rid of it. Storing ripe fruit in the fridge is also a good idea, as fruit flies can’t live in the cold. A single rotting potato or onion forgotten in your cupboard or storage room or juice spilled under the fridge can lead to an army of fruit flies. You’re gonna have to keep things clean and dry to avoid the little varmints. A garbage can with a lid is also a good idea, and make sure you clean out your recycling bin every once in a while, too, since sticky soft-drink residue is a sure-fire, nasty-gnat breeding ground.

Well, I gotta fly. I need to list my rotten bananas on e-Bay. That’s right. People actually buy this kinda stuff. In one of my many searches for “fruit flies” on Google, the following entry appeared: “Please tell me where to purchase fruit-fly eggs.” Since I’ve been away at the US shopping channel for the past few days and carelessly left my ripe bananas on the kitchen counter, I figure I might as well cash in on my mistake.

Comments (2)

  1. Reply

    Sandra | May 18, 2006 at 8:23 am →

    hello there,

    I really like ready your blogs. They are funny and a lot of interesting and quarky information. keep it up.

    when are you going to finish your top 5 nutritional items? It stopped at #4…

    have a great day!

  2. Reply

    Janet Podleski | May 18, 2006 at 9:05 am →

    Hi Sandra,

    So glad you’re enjoying our interesting and “quarky” blog! Not to worry, the Top 5 Nutritional Supplements will continue tomorrow. (We got a bit distracted by the whole Paula Abdul thing!) We’re actually at #2 now. Looks like you missed #3 (Probiotics) which I talked about in “Have You Had Your Bugs Today?”

    #1 and #2 are the most super-important–the ones that I think everyone should take, for sure, so don’t miss it!

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