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Local fruit fly information

Fruit Fly control in Kansas

Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.

Fruit Flies in Kansas: what to know

Around Kansas

Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.

What to note

Where you see fruit flies, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.

A useful next step

Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.

Local research

Fruit Flies in Kansas: what the public record shows

Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which fruit flies actually live in Kansas, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.

Pomace or vinegar flies are about 1/16 inch, yellow to brown, frequently red-eyed, and complete their life cycle in 1 to 2 weeks depending on temperature
Household identification and life cycle

A one-to-two-week cycle means a Kansas homeowner who removes the source sees the problem end quickly, and one who does not gets a new generation every ten days or so.

Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service (K-State Research and Extension)
Around cracks and wounds in fruit, and around slow-moving or seldom-used drains with accumulations of fermenting organic matter; eggs may also be brought in unknowingly on fresh produce
Where Kansas females lay eggs

K-State's advice for Kansas kitchens is to refrigerate newly bought produce so any adults present cannot start a generation, and to stop leaving pits and peels in trash or compost bins.

Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service (K-State Research and Extension)
Detected in south-central Kansas in August 2013 by the Kansas Department of Agriculture
Spotted wing drosophila first detected in Kansas

Kansas berry growers and homeowners with backyard raspberries have had to assume SWD presence since 2013; it is not a regulated or quarantined pest, so no official response is triggered by a find.

Kansas State University Department of Entomology, K-State Research and Extension

When fruit flies are busiest in Kansas

K-State reports that spotted wing drosophila adult populations increase in mid-to-late summer and remain high through early fall as berries and fruit ripen; indoor pomace fly pressure follows the same late-summer produce peak, and K-State notes flies may enter from outdoors during warmer months.

K-State Research and Extension advises that in most cases removing aging fruit and vegetables eliminates pomace fly infestations, and that new produce should be refrigerated so any adults still present cannot lay eggs and start a new generation. It adds that persistent adults indicate the flies have begun reproducing inside the home. For the drain fly look-alike, K-State says control requires locating the larval habitat and drying, cleaning or removing it, including thorough cleaning of drain traps with drain cleaners and a long brush.

For context, nationally

Sources: Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service (K-State Research and Extension); Kansas State University Department of Entomology, K-State Research and Extension; University of Maryland Extension; Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

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