I've made something similar to this with a 2 liter soda bottle. I may have read about it here. It worked pretty good! I HATE fruit flies!

I had to laugh about their "no kill" version. Fruit flies are definitely one of the only things I don't feel bad about killing.

I do something similar, but cover the jar or bowl with saran wrap and a rubber band to hold in place. Poke some holes in the top with a fork. They manage to get in there, then can't get out.

I haven't had to do that for awhile... Winston seems to keep them in check. :-) He loves chasing (and eating) bugs.

I get fruit flies in my kitchen every summer. Never keep food or scraps out. I couldn't figure out where they came from. then one day while watering my plants I noticed fruit flies swarming around the plants. Actually saw some maggots on the soil of one plant-I threw it outside so fast!

I do this very thing to catch all kinds of bugs - works really well when I put it under a night light.

A neighbor of mine worked for the school cafeteria a few years back and they were required to submerge all veggies and fruit in water to get rid of the bugs. I read in dear abby last week that if you soak your apple in vinegar water you see why you need to clean your fruit before you eat it. The wax and bugs will be floating on top of the water. I haven't tried this myself, but I do scrub my fruit with soda.

You can also swish a little detergent and vinegar together, doesn't take much. They will come.

Good to know--thanks!!

jannie, your weren't fruit flies, but fungus gnats. Entirely different critter. The maggots you saw are the larvae of the fungus gnats. Icky, aren't they?

Anyway, I trap fruit flies by putting some apple cider vinegar or apple juice in a bowl, adding some water and a little bit of dish soap. The soap breaks the surface tension on the liquid so that when the fruit fly comes to investigate, it immediately sinks to the bottom. They don't even swim laps. The vinegar does seem to work better at attracting them than the juice.

This trap works like a charm. In a few hours, you'll have a little dish full of fruit fly carcasses to wash down the drain. No need to trap them alive, lol!

I had this problem when I came home after last summer's knee surgery. The little buggers just didn't seem interested in the vinegar/fruit solution, and my plants didn't seem to be the culprits. Finally, it dawned on me that my kitchen drains had not been used in that time. Right........a drenching of vinegar and soda got rid of the beasts.

I don't have to worry about fruit flies....I had the same problem only magnified a million times it seemed. I had a swarm of them in my house and I had no idea where they came from but obviously fruit for the store......so my solution,
I have 5 or 6 in my kitchen all the time. I just refresh the vinegar now and then. I have them in the pantry, I have one behind the breadmaker etc etc.Haven't seen a fruit fly in ages....except dead ones in my bottle....

You can take a narrow necked bottle of any kind and do away with the paper funnel.

Thanks Flamey. Cider vinegar is also supposed to work on fungus gnats and I've had decent luck just setting out a shallow bowl, but this looks like a better trap.

Pretty slick!

I set out a bowl of cider vinegar and water and soap last night, stuck it on the counter under a night light and it caught one fruit fly. My other trap might have caught one, too.... but my numbers are decreasing so I'm really happy with both ways.

phyllis...yet another little fly we have to contend with: the drain fly. You did the right thing to get rid of them.

In the past few days I have seen fruit flies. It seems like they multiplied today. So I just made a trap. We'll see if I can catch them.

Thanks for the info Flamey. It came at just the right time.

The "Power of Suggestion" around here is much to strong!
I didn't have any fruit flies around here -- until you mentioned it!

I set out the vinegar trap and haven't seen that one again. It is not in the jar either.

I will try this. I got fruit flies b/c I left my compost bowl in the kitchen too long w/o emptying it. I usually do that every other day, but this one went unnoticed and am I ever reaping the results. Just like mosquitoes, they don't bother DH, but they think I'm delicious. Thanks for the remedy!! I think banana peels are the worst.

Yes, it is getting to be that ime of year. Last August they were all over the place, but this year Ill be ready for the little buggers. Thanks for the great post!

Let the battle begin...

sooey