How do fruit flies appear seemingly from nowhere?

queproblema

They are spontaneously generated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation ;) Apr 07 09, 3:12 PM

dj168

Very good Queproblema, but I believe in biology we learned that it is not true. xD Maybe there is a more logical explanation than something appearing out of nowhere AKA magic. xD One answer is that fruit flies have very good noses. O.o And can smell fruit/food from far away. http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970718/skinny1.html Apr 07 09, 3:32 PM

Baloo55th

'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana'. Avoid bananas.... Apr 07 09, 3:35 PM

zbeckabee

You can get these totally cool bug zappers that look like a child's tennis racket...and go around doing expert-like tennis strokes while you fry those little puppies...zap...zap...zap! I got a blue one so it would match my black and blue spots from trying to hit them with my hand...and missing. http://www.eurocosm.com/Application/Products/Electro-swat/electro-swat-GB.asp Apr 07 09, 5:14 PM

queproblema

Dj's link is superb--it even says, "This very mystery -- vermin from nowhere -- gave rise to a charming and durable belief called 'spontaneous generation.'....But I think fruit flies still make a fair case for spontaneous generation." Baloo would like Victor Hernandez Cruz. "How would your family feel if they had to tell The generations that you got killed by a flying Banana." http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19931 and our bugzapper is yellow like the one in Zb's link. (Not really "ours"--I refuse to use it.) My husband loves that poem, (There's more than that fragment.) but then, he loves to zap mosquitoes, too. I think I have some spontaneously generated bugs in my belfry. Or in my brain. Oh, bats!) Apr 07 09, 6:59 PM

zbeckabee

Those "fruit flies" could actually be gnats that hatch in plant soil. If you have live plants, check the soil when you water and see if the little critters are running around the pot and plant. http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jul21b.cfm The adult fungus gnat lays tiny eggs, singly or in clusters, on the soil in houseplants. In about 4 days, the eggs hatch into tiny, silvery white larvae (resembling tiny earthworms), with shiny black heads. When mature the very slim, and transparent larvae can measure up to 6 mm in length. Within a 2-week period, the larvae begin to spin tiny silken cocoons in the soil. The pupal stage lasts only 1 week. Adult fungus gnats emerge and mate. The adult stage lasts only 1 week, but the female will lay around 100-150 eggs during that time. The entire life cycle lasts only 4 weeks -- from egg to larvae to pupae and back to egg. So, it's in the third week that the bugzapper works great. However, to completely get rid of these annoying pests...one must interrupt the cycle...which Zbeckabee has been unable to do, at least so far...zap. http://pestcontrolcanada.com/INSECTS/Flies/Gnats.htm Apr 07 09, 7:22 PM