Fruit flies are a menace to any home. They breed and multiply quickly, often wreaking havoc in kitchens and bathrooms.
Although they have a lifespan of about 10-15 days, they can still produce up to 500 eggs. They lay their eggs on walls, food, and windows, and a small outbreak can quickly lead to a full-blown infestation. That’s why it is important to keep them out of the house.Â
What can you do to deal with fruit flies? Are Fruit Flies Attracted to UV Light? Yes, they are, and there are some who use that to trap fruit flies.
We’ll explain below.
How to Prevent a Fruit Fly Infestation
To prevent a fruit fly infestation, you must ensure that your home is clean and well-maintained. The biggest things you can do are to carefully clean your counters, store food in sealed containers or in the fridge, and pay attention to fruit that is getting overripe.
Fruit flies love rotting fruit, and will happily infest a banana that’s been on the counter for a day or two longer than it should be, or a peach that got bruised in transit.
Some people prefer using sticky traps to catch fruit flies before they reproduce. Others like to use vinegar and dish soap fruit fly traps.
And some use insecticides to kill them before they get any chance to do any damage.Â
To prevent a fruit fly infestation, you must ensure that your home is clean and well-maintained.
The other way people try to keep these flies out of their houses is by using ultraviolet light traps. These traps use UV light to lure flies into the trap and kill them once they get close enough.
What Is UV Light?
Ultraviolet light, also known as violet light, is a range of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light.
UV light is invisible to the human eye and can only be seen in the dark or under special conditions, like when filtered through a glass prism (or another transparent medium).Â
Are Fruit Flies Attracted to UV Light?
Yes, fruit flies are attracted to UV light.
UV light is critical to insects as they use it to regulate their internal clocks. Mostly, they use it as a cue for when to go out and seek food. Without UV light, insects would have trouble finding mates, which would lead to population decline.Â
Tragic.
Fruit flies are attracted to UV light because it is a natural energy source. They use the light emitted from the sun as a reference point to find the way back home. In addition, fruit flies are considered curious creatures easily attracted via the continuous illuminating cycles in the trap.
According to a study in the Journal of Insect Science, turning UV light traps on and off increases the attraction of fruit flies. An experiment was conducted in which fruit fly activity was evaluated during the constant illuminating events. A total of two UV light traps were individually set up to study the behavior of fruit flies.
In the first trap, the UV light was continuously glowing without fluctuation. In the second trap, the UV light was turned on for an hour and then turned off for another hour.
Unexpectedly, the fruit flies were attracted to the first trap due to the continuous visibility of UV light. However, the results concluded that the second trap expected the highest mortality rate of fruit flies during the experiment compared to the first trap. It was due to the continuous fluctuation in UV light.
Are UV Light Traps Effective for Fruit Flies?
UV light is also used in pest control to eradicate pests without pesticides or chemicals. Ultraviolet light traps are a great way to catch house flies and other insects like mosquitoes and moths that may be plaguing your home.
The Katchy Fruit Fly Trap is one of these products, and it works really well.
Additionally, turning them on and off will increase the attraction of these pests to the trap.Â
Previously, these types of traps were used for agriculture purposes and to protect patio areas, but now they are used indoors to control insect infestations.Â
UV light is also used in pest control to eradicate pests without pesticides or chemicals.
The main component of the fruit fly trap is the fluorescent light source. A high-intensity light attracts these flying insects toward the light trap, usually made of non-toxic acrylic.
As soon as the fruit fly enters the trap through a smallopening, it gets trapped by the sticky paper and cannot get out.
Therefore, UV is commonly used as an insecticide for killing insects or fruit flies without any negative effects on humans. However, there are some downsides to using UV light traps as well.
For example, some UV traps for insects are quite expensive.
Remember that UV light traps are effective for fruit flies in certain conditions. For example, a study by University at Buffalo showed that these traps effectively reduced the number of fruit fly populations in commercial settings. Still, there was no significant difference between this method and other methods, such as baiting or pesticide use.
Conclusion
Numerous experiments proved that fruit flies are attracted to wavelengths between 310 and 370 nm, which comes in the UV light range. UV light can be an effective fruit fly lure, and a great way to trap fruit flies near your cat’s food, near your veggies, or even in your bathroom.
Get rid of your fruit fly problem before it becomes an infestation!
