Anybody know what is this banana fly that invaded my kitchen?

[TreasonousBastard]

No pix-- can't deal with a macro setup right now.

But, what happened is I bought some bananas that were in a plastic bag. When I got them home and opened the bag, tiny flies flew out. Really tiny-- not much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. I found them taking up residence in the kitchen garbage bag and managed to trap most of them and toss them out.

There were hundreds of them, more than were originally in the banana bag, which leads me to think they have breeding cycle of maybe minutes. An hour at most. Like tribbles, they are born pregnant.

This is not the first time this has happened. Anybody have any idea what this bug is?

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Sounds like fruit flies.

We used to get them around the wells at the bar when I was a bartender. They got into the fruit we used to garnish drinks.

[onecaliberal]

2. We've had the same experience a few times lately with our banana's

I’m ordering singles so they’re not bagged.

[hlthe2b]

3. Sounds like common fruit flies... No?

And yes, they can be incredibly numerous.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Those are a little bigger, and not all black, but close.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana...

Yeah, probably fruit flies. They like sweet stuff and I've found them in bananas as well.

They have a very fast life cycle, which is why they are used extensively in genetic studies. My experience is that after the source is removed, they are gone pretty quickly.

I believe they are relatively harmless, though annoying and a bit disgusting for some.

[2naSalit]

9. LOL!!

[lettucebe]

5. Try a small dish with vinegar & honey & water in it. May work, easy enough to try

I've had luck with this for those dinky moths and other flying critters.

[Lochloosa]

6. This might help. I've used the vinegar technique before.

https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/how-to-get-rid-of-fruit-flies-from-bananas-apples-and-other-ingredients-1653215?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

[Lochloosa]

6. This might help. I've used the vinegar technique before.

https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/how-to-get-rid-of-fruit-flies-from-bananas-apples-and-other-ingredients-1653215?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

[2naSalit]

10. I get those gnat things from potting soil...

And I had complained about them to a sister and she gave me a recipe for a spray to dramatically reduce their population in a short time.

In a 1qt jar mix 2 Tbsp Murphy's Oil Soap, 1 Cup of isopropyl alcohol, the rest water. Fill jar to a little over 3/4 full. Shake well, pour some into an atomizer and spray on the bugs when you see them flying around. It drops them from the air and kills them. The soap makes their wings sticky and the alcohol over amps their metabolism. You can wipe/sweep their little carcasses up anytime thereafter. Safe to spray directly onto houseplants, so f they are sitting on the plant, you can still nail them.

So I would imagine this could be an answer. I have little recurrence of potting soil gnats since I started using this stuff. I had most of them under control within a few days. Might be too far north for banana bugs.

[Fla Dem]

11. I stopped buying bananas because of them.

Bananas I always bought were not bagged. I think they hatch after the bananas reach a certain age or are no longer green once they're in your house for few days. Because why wouldn't those little flies dissipate while walking through the store as you buy other groceries, being checked out and walking to your car. Hmmmm.

[TomVilmer]

12. Testing banana flies mutate with radioactive radiation ...

... was a very popular item in my high school. Not so much for the parents though, since they infested our homes too.