# DIY Fruit Fly Trap



## Mitch

Tired of/Grossed out by those pesky escapees? Are your family members or your significant other disgusted by escaped fruit flies crawling around the house? Here's a cheap, easy way to get rid of most of the escaped fruit flies:

Here's what you'll need:
-1 small glass jar or cup: Can be found around the house or can be bought in a variety of stores. 
-Apple cider vinegar: Can be purchased at the local supermarket
-Dish soap: Can be purchased at a variety of stores

Here's how to set it up:

_Step 1_
-Get your glass jar or cup









_Step 2_
-Fill jar with a few inches of apple cider vinegar









_Step 3_
-Add a few drops of dish soap and shake. This gets rid of the surface tension that would normally allow the flies to float on the surface and escape. The flies should now sink quickly after struggling on the surface.








(the bubbles will dissipate shortly after)

_Step 4_
Place fruit fly trap in desired area. I like to place it in the bottom corner of the frog rack. It keeps any flies from leaving the rack (I have yet to see an escapee other then some on the rack). If you do not have a frog rack it could be placed next to the vivarium or near wherever flies could be escaping. 








(Notice jar in bottom left corner of rack)




So, that's how I make a fruit fly trap. There are other variations out there but this is what I do. I hope this helps!


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## AaronAcker

Yep, nice and easy


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## gary1218

NICE.

I need one for spiders as well


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## Mitch

gary1218 said:


> NICE.
> 
> I need one for spiders as well


That one needs a shop vac...

Also forgot to mention: It's important to dump the solution out and renew it every so often or else it gets pretty smelly... like really smelly...


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## Ed

Balsalmic vinegar in my experience works better than apple cider vinegar.. you can also dilute the vinegar by 50% with tap water and still have good success in capturing the flies. Other alternatives is to add some white vinegar to fruit juice and dilute with water. 

Ed


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## Woodsman

Looks good. I was just wondering if the solution doesn't actually draw fruitflies out of the vivs (as an attractant)? Also, my spider "collection" does a pretty good job keeping the ffs in the frog room (not for everyone, but I don't mind spiders).

Take care, Richard.


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## AnacRoNoxX

I work in a genetics lab and other teaching labs, and my office is usually filled with escapees from the incubator. I made similar fly traps, but we just took a flask with some grape juice and yeast, or ethanol with yeast both with a funnel on top (these aren't wingless  ). works like a charm! No more pesky specs buzzing around my face, in my hair, etc. The flies are actually drawn by the volatilized alcohol to feed on the yeast. I use them next to my tanks with the same results. It also keeps the spiders away!


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## Mitch

Ed said:


> Balsalmic vinegar in my experience works better than apple cider vinegar.. you can also dilute the vinegar by 50% with tap water and still have good success in capturing the flies. Other alternatives is to add some white vinegar to fruit juice and dilute with water.
> 
> Ed


Good to know, maybe I'll try this. Thanks Ed


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## Ed

AnacRoNoxX said:


> I work in a genetics lab and other teaching labs, and my office is usually filled with escapees from the incubator. I made similar fly traps, but we just took a flask with some grape juice and yeast, or ethanol with yeast both with a funnel on top (these aren't wingless  ). works like a charm! No more pesky specs buzzing around my face, in my hair, etc. The flies are actually drawn by the volatilized alcohol to feed on the yeast. I use them next to my tanks with the same results. It also keeps the spiders away!


 
Hmm.. this makes me want to try it with ethanol.. any particular concentration? 

If the concentration of etoh is high enough, do the flies count the same as the caterpillar in tequila? 

Ed


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## AnacRoNoxX

Ed said:


> Hmm.. this makes me want to try it with ethanol.. any particular concentration?
> 
> If the concentration of etoh is high enough, do the flies count the same as the caterpillar in tequila?
> 
> Ed



YES! It certainly would Ed haha. As for the concentration, I've used ~95% EtOH, which works OK. But a ~10% EtOH (any more alcohol will kill the yeast) with a small amount of rehydrated activated yeast in a sugar solution added to the EtOH will work better. 

I found a mixture with yeast + juice/sugar solution with EtOH works the best. I use this recipe...

--1 part juice or 10% sugar solution
-- Add a few mLs of brewers yeast or any activated Yeast (rehydrated of course). You can stop here and let the yeast ferment while you catch flies or...
--Add 1/2 to 1/4 part 10% EtOH. If you're feeling extra daring, a few mLs of liquor would work also.
-- add few drops of Soap, stir and serve to your fly patrons . In the lab I use a small funnel as the catch. 

Hope that works. Sorry for the un-standard units of measurement. I just eyeball it mostly. I would like to know how this works out Ed, or any others.


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## DJboston

I put 1 quart deli cups under my rack. Half water half vinegar. I'm going to try this dish soap method as they usually do float on surface and I find they get out of liquid but usually hang out on rim of cups.

This is very very helpful as well as the other suggestions. At the last frog meeting, everyone had a different way of doing it, but vinegar and dish soap sounds fine to me. I'll start that tonight.

I don't get many escapes now but I used to get them worse, especially with hydei all over the living room. Now I only only get a few here and there. They never leave the rack though and no one notices them. 

My roommates hate fruit flies so if it was a really bad problem I would get hell for it daily. My rack is in my living room on my side of the apartment on the wall next to my bedroom.

Thanks!
D


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## dendroman1234

Ed said:


> Balsalmic vinegar in my experience works better than apple cider vinegar.. you can also dilute the vinegar by 50% with tap water and still have good success in capturing the flies. Other alternatives is to add some white vinegar to fruit juice and dilute with water.
> 
> Ed


I found better results with balsalmic vinegar, as well.


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## wesly2007

i just tried this i put 1/3 white vinegar 1/3 cranberry juice 1/3 water. hope it works


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## Ed

wesly2007 said:


> i just tried this i put 1/3 white vinegar 1/3 cranberry juice 1/3 water. hope it works


If you don't add a couple drops of soap it won't work. 

Ed


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## tim13

Just had to share, I've accidentally discovered a fly trap that works better than my vinegar trap. Thursday night I left a half fountain cup of lemonade next to one of my vivs on the top shelf of my frog rack. I know, I should have thrown it away. This is a chick-fil-a styrofoam fountain cup, with chic-fil-a lemonade and the straw still in. Since Thursday night, I have caught hundreds of escaped flies with this thing. They appear to go into the cup through the plastic lid where the straw goes through. However, the best thing is there is NO smell! It's been competing with my vinegar traps and WINNING by a long shot. There is significant less risk of spilling. And, there are no flies floating around to be seen. The lid and opaque cup hide them. Just thought I would share.


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## Mitch

tim13 said:


> Just had to share, I've accidentally discovered a fly trap that works better than my vinegar trap. Thursday night I left a half fountain cup of lemonade next to one of my vivs on the top shelf of my frog rack. I know, I should have thrown it away. This is a chick-fil-a styrofoam fountain cup, with chic-fil-a lemonade and the straw still in. Since Thursday night, I have caught hundreds of escaped flies with this thing. They appear to go into the cup through the plastic lid where the straw goes through. However, the best thing is there is NO smell! It's been competing with my vinegar traps and WINNING by a long shot. There is significant less risk of spilling. And, there are no flies floating around to be seen. The lid and opaque cup hide them. Just thought I would share.


Sounds like a great trap... Ill have to try it! I hate the smell of the vinegar so this is a better alternative.


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## PantMan

Not as effective, but It looks better then a cup of soapy vinegar IMO.


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## Uniceros

What Nepenthes is that? I recently bought a Miranda but it has no traps, and the plant is big.


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## tim13

Do these grow well as house plants on the viv racks?


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## PantMan

Uniceros said:


> What Nepenthes is that? I recently bought a Miranda but it has no traps, and the plant is big.


The Greenhouse I bought it at listed it as Sp.
It's my first Nepenthes so I'm not entirely sure but I'm guessitng Atala.


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## PantMan

tim13 said:


> Do these grow well as house plants on the viv racks?


Mine is next to a north facing window and in the past 2 months It has been growing failry well. Outside of the fact that I should probably be misting more often, I found it very easy to care for.


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## Dart Frog

An empty soda can works great too.


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## davecalk

This is my favorite fly trap. It costs all of a nickel, the cost of the deposit you lose for not recycling the pop bottle.












Take a 2 liter bottle and cut it about an inch and a half down from the curve of the neck of the bottle. This works the best if you poke the knife in, hold the still with one hand and then just spin the bottle around the axis with your other hand. 











Cut made all the way around.











Then slide the top cut off section of the bottle upside down into the bottom half of the bottle.








You now have an escape proof fruit fly trap that works for both flyers and non-flyers. Just add your favorite elixir and go fly baiting.



If you use a green seven up bottle, you won't see the flies and it is a fine decor accessory fit for every cultured countertop in the frogging community.


Here is the site describing the step by step on how to make the Pop Bottle Fly Trap.


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## myersboy6

tim13 said:


> Just had to share, I've accidentally discovered a fly trap that works better than my vinegar trap. Thursday night I left a half fountain cup of lemonade next to one of my vivs on the top shelf of my frog rack. I know, I should have thrown it away. This is a chick-fil-a styrofoam fountain cup, with chic-fil-a lemonade and the straw still in. Since Thursday night, I have caught hundreds of escaped flies with this thing. They appear to go into the cup through the plastic lid where the straw goes through. However, the best thing is there is NO smell! It's been competing with my vinegar traps and WINNING by a long shot. There is significant less risk of spilling. And, there are no flies floating around to be seen. The lid and opaque cup hide them. Just thought I would share.


im going to chick-fil-a tomorrow for lunch and going to have lemonade and then stick it next to my viv! haha


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## Mitch

*The Lemonade Method aka THE TIM METHOD*

...Works better than anything else I've tried! Plus it's smell free, easy to replace, and cheap. I'm never going back to the apple vinegar again. All I did was poke a few holes in the vented ff culture lid and put it on a cup filled with an inch or two of vinegar. The flies end up going in and drowning in the lemonade. Picture:








I also tried using Orange Juice, which also attracted the flies just as well, but it molded over (ew) after a few days which was gross. I'll stick to just replacing the lemonade every week or so.


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## tim13

I would like a officially say my laziness helped the hobby. From now on, this will be known as the "TIM METHOD" of fruit fly trapping.

I would also like to add that the styrofoam cup with the lid and straw hides the fact you have a cup full of flies. Also, after a few days the lemonade begins to ferment. The flies really begin to swarm then.


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## Mitch

tim13 said:


> I would like a officially say my laziness helped the hobby. From now on, this will be known as the "TIM METHOD" of fruit fly trapping.
> 
> I would also like to add that the styrofoam cup with the lid and straw hides the fact you have a cup full of flies. Also, after a few days the lemonade begins to ferment. The flies really begin to swarm then.


Haha, I fixed my post to give you credit. Well done


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## itsott

I am going to try a few of these out!


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## vonromantiko

This is actually good!

Looks also like one of these

Fruit Fly Trap For FREE | The Bug Squad | Fast Results!

Which one you think looks better?


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