Most people have witnessed the problem of getting fruit flies or gnats over their delicious fruits. This could become a serious problem and make your fruits unclean and unfit for consumption. This is why it is important to understand how to prevent gnats from appearing in the first place and, if they have already come, how you can get rid of them.
Where Do Gnats Come From?
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Gnats are insects that are attracted to sweet smells. Thus, fruits become an amazing place for them to infest if not taken care of. Once they have laid the eggs and the fruits start to rot, the larvae end up eating the fruit itself to get the nutrition to grow further.
Sometimes, the fruit flies can enter your house through a simple passage like an open window or a door if you do not take proper care. They can also infest your fruits if there is a garbage can that has been infested with gnats already somewhere nearby.
Gnats Life Cycle
The Gnats life cycle has mainly four stages:
- The egg
- The larvae
- The Pupil
- The adult
Once an egg turns into an adult, it generally has a life of 7-14 days, after which it will die.
Why do bananas cause gnats?
Bananas are fruits that can easily get infested with gnats, and the reason for this is simple. Like anything that smells sweet, Gnats include fruits like a banana that is either not refrigerated or overripe.
Do gnats bite humans?
Gnats sometimes bite humans, and generally, it is the female gnat that will bite you as it needs the blood before it can simply lay eggs further. The bites aren’t a cause of concern, and they can be like a mosquito bite, red, bumpy, and itchy. However, sometimes, the problem could get worse if an allergic reaction develops.
How do you get rid of gnats around bananas?
Now, an infestation can always occur even if you take all those preventative measures. This is why you should try these two gnat trapping techniques to get rid of them. These techniques will trap the flies inside a glass and make them commit mass suicide as they deliberately fall into their deaths!
The Apple Cider Trap
Just put some apple cider vinegar into a glass and cover the top of it with a plastic sheet. Tie a rubber band around the sheet to fix its position and punch little holes inside it to ensure that the flies can go inside. But don’t make them so big that the flies can leave. That’s it. Place the trap near the banana that is infested and wait until the flies get attracted to the sweet smell of apple cider and get inside the glass. Once they get in, they won’t be able to leave and die inside the vinegar easily.
The Funnel Trap
In this trap, add some rotten fruits or honey instead of the apple cider. Next, place a paper funnel (made by rolling) into the glass in such a way that the flies can come in but cannot leave!
How to Keep Gnats Away From Bananas?
As everyone knows, prevention is always a better option than cure. This is why before you know about how to get rid of an existing infestation, you should learn about the prevention measures that you can take first.:
Wash your fruits or bananas properly
Whenever you get a fruit or a banana, you need to wash them clean as soon as possible. This happens because no one knows about the surfaces that the bananas would have been kept on. If the surfaces weren’t clean enough, then an infestation could probably develop, or the bananas could even become rotten. If the bananas had been in contact with any rotten fruits, you must wash them immediately to stop them from getting rotten as well. Remove any rotten fruits around your fresh bananas to avoid the same from happening.
Clean your kitchen regularly
Another simple prevention method to avoid a gnat infestation from happening is to maintain a hygienic environment for your bananas to keep. This means that if your bananas are being kept in your kitchen, then you must keep your kitchen surroundings all the time. One may not think it, but the kitchen can get dirty pretty easily, just as you cook random stuff or spill something and don’t clean it properly. By doing something as simple as cleaning your kitchen regularly, you can easily avoid a gnat infestation from ruining your bananas.
Avoid collecting garbage over time
Lastly, you can avoid having your bananas get infested with gnats if you keep a regular schedule for throwing away all the garbage before it gets too much. This means that you should keep throwing out your garbage regularly as too much collection can make the place unhygienic and perfect for a gnat infestation. Gnats can get attracted to unhygienic places like garbage cans with a sweet smell easily as it provides them with the best living conditions possible. However, if you ensure that the garbage doesn’t get collected, you can easily avoid a gnat infestation from occurring.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you stop gnats from flying around you?
The easiest way of getting rid of the gnats that keep flying around you is to spray some vanilla, lavender, or lemon scent inside the room.
What smell do gnats hate?
Gnats hate the smell of lavender, lemon, and vanilla.
What season do gnats come out?
This problem generally occurs in the summer season between May-June.
Do gnats go away at night?
Gnats do go away during the night; however, sometimes they might not, which could become a nuisance.
What time of day are gnats most active?
Gnats are the most active during the day.
Try all the ways of preventing and getting rid of the gnats so that you never have to worry about an infestation anymore!
