Published OnNovember 17th, 2008 

Know thy enemy! Common household fruit flies grow from egg to adult in just 8-10 days. There are four stages in this growth process; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Following is a (very) brief description of each of them.

Stage 1: Egg – Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime of less than two weeks! They will only lay their eggs in the surface of moist, organic material. They prefer fermenting and rotting fruits and vegetables. This is the weak point that we will use to eradicate them.

Fruit Fly Larva PictureStage 2: Larva – Approximately 24 hours after an egg is laid, the fruit fly will emerge as a larva. This is where the fruit fly starts to take shape.

Stage 3: Pupa – This final formative stage gives the fruit flies their wings and color. This is the final stage of metamorphosis. Soon they’ll be buzzing around your house and crashing into your face as you walk into the kitchen! They may be the best at reproducing, but they sure can’t fly very well.

Stage 4: Adult – Once the fly is fully formed, it emerges as an adult and can begin reproducing in less than 2 days!


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Fruit Flies

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One Response to “The Fruit Fly Life Cycle”

  1. Lynda Says:

    Can these fruit flies bite? I found 2 of them and as I swatted them off my wrist I was left with 2 welts of hives and had to use caladryl lotion to stop the sting & itch. Frist I thought they could have been fleas but they were fruit flies as I had some fruit on the t.v. cabinet stand like bananas and a couple of applies so then I realized they had to be fruit flies and not fleas. Needless to say I removed the fruit from my room and put the apples in the fridge and the bananas on the kitchen counter.

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