Are you looking for a natural way to eradicate fruit flies? How about some help from Mother Nature?
So, what are plants that eat fruit flies?
- Carnivorous plants can eat flies, but it’s not a great solution to infestation.
- There are a few types of carnivorous plants you can use in your home.
- Fly tape is based on the methods of one of these carnivorous plants.
Read on and discover what these plants are and whether they will be effective in managing fruit fly infestations.
What is a Carnivorous Plant?
Any plant that is adapted to catch and consume flies is considered a carnivorous plant. The Venus Flytrap is the most famous of these plants, but there are several others including the pitcher plant.
Why do they eat insects? These plants normally grow in areas where there are not a lot of nutrients in the ground, so they adapted to get it from bugs.
Any plant that is adapted to catch and consume flies is considered a carnivorous plant.
These plants use different traps and pitfalls to lure, then capture bugs from around them, and then consume them. These traps used by carnivorous plants are, in most cases, made from the leaves of the plant.
These plants use different traps and pitfalls to lure and then capture bugs.
They are sometimes covered with sticky fluids that will keep the bug stuck on or inside a leaf so they can be consumed later. Other plants have modified leaves that close like jaws and teeth over insects to keep them trapped.
There are up to seven different types of carnivorous plants that can be quite effective, but not all of them work in all circumstances. Let’s look at some of the best options that will be effective in helping control fruit flies in and around your home.
1. The Sundew (Drosera Capensis)
With more than 200 species of Sundew plant available, it can be challenging to pick one that will work to manage fruit flies effectively. The best one for eliminating fruit flies is the Cape Sundew, according to the experts on carnivorous plants.
You only need to place a few of these plants around your kitchen, and you will no longer have problems with fruit flies. This species of the Sundew plant is also one of the most adaptable carnivorous plants and very easy to keep healthy.
They flourish in most places around the country and are the best option for those who have little experience in horticulture. The leaves of the plant are covered with small red tentacles covered with sticky glue that glitters like dew drops.
The glittering drops lure the bugs. When they land on the leaves, they get stuck, and the leaves will curl around them. This is the ultimate plant for trapping fruit flies and other insects like midges and mosquitoes. They are very effective in catching them.
The Cape Sundew plant is also affordable and can be bought from most online shops that sell plants. Taking care of them is easy; simply put the plant in a bowl of water on a sunny window sill and water them well.
2. Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
This is one of the most popular carnivorous plants. And while the Venus flytrap will sometimes eat fruit flies, most of the time it does not eat them. Fruit flies are typically too small to trigger their closing “sensor” hairs, and even if the plant closes around a fruit fly, often a fruit fly is small enough to sneak through the gaps.
The Venus flytrap is one of the most fascinating carnivorous plants, but is more successful at controlling house flies than fruit flies. They are also very easy to care for but make sure you get a healthy specimen when you buy one of these plants.
Caring for a Venus flytrap requires basic growing methods and a sunny spot to flourish and manage the fruit fly problems in your home. Let them stand in a bowl of distilled or rainwater on the window sill, and they will flourish for a long time.
Also, ensure that you provide them with winter dormancy so they can stay healthy for much longer. These plants use a sweet-smelling fluid to lure the bugs and trap them in their leaves, and flies love that sugary smell.
The double leaves with sharp thorns on the end look like a mouth with vicious teeth that will devour its prey.Â
You can buy established Venus flytraps or purchase some seeds and grow them from seed for more fun.
3. The Nepenthes Gaya Pitcher Plant
This tropical carnivorous bug-eating plant is one of the most popular plants that flourish in mild environments without problems. While there are a number of these types of carnivorous plants suited to the home environment, this one is the easiest to care for.
It has beautiful red and yellow speckled pitchers, which make this a very popular choice to keep in your home. But don’t be fooled by the beautiful, elegant pitchers of this plant; it is a savage plant that consumes bugs efficiently.
This plant will grow to around 15cm when matured with a nice bushy top that displays very well.
Furthermore, its diet is not restricted to pesky fruit flies but extends to wasps and bees if it can lure them close.
This plant is very easy to care for, making it a good candidate to keep in your home. Just one or two of them around the kitchen will be enough to make that fruit fly problem something of the past.
The color and sweet smell of the large pitchers are how this plant lures the prey to its demise. The pitcher is basically a leaf that swells out in the center to form the pitcher where it can hold up to one liter of water.
You can buy this beautiful bug-eating plant from most online stores that sell plants.
Other Carnivorous Plants
As mentioned, there are numerous types of carnivorous plants that you can try out if you want to experiment with fly-eating flora. Following is a list of other popular plants that are available from most plant shops:
- Butterworts (Pinguicula) are tiny carnivorous plants with beautiful flowers that grow in the United States
- Catapulting flypaper trap (Drosera Glanduligera) with both fly-trapping and flypaper
- Bladderworts (Utricularia) live in open water and are known for tiny bladders that trap the insects
- Lobster-pot plants (Darlingtonia Californica) with a trap that looks like a cup used to catch lobsters
Conclusion
Carnivorous plants are incredibly fascinating creatures, evolution is so very strange! And while some of these plants can help control fruit fly outbreaks, typically they’re not going to consume enough flies to make a difference.
It’s much better to go with a working fruit fly trap made with vinegar and dish soap. Your home-made trap will consume more flies than a plant!
