For some reason, this summer, the fruits I got had lost of fruit flies. It led to an infestation in my apartment, which I got rid of using a cup containing a shallow amount of apple cider vinegar, to which I added a few drops of dish detergent. I covered the cup in saran wrap in which I poked 3 holes that were more than big enough for a fruit fly to enter through.

Part of the problem is that I don't change the kitchen garbage every day. It is a 10L garbage can, and it would be very wasteful to change it every day because I generate a neglegible amount of daily waste. So even though my cider trap kills the existing fruit flies, whenever I lift the garbage lid to throw stuff out, more flies come out. They eventually get trapped by the cider, but it's annoying. I've taken to squirting the vinegar into the garbage can whenever I open it. It seems to keep the problem under control. In fact, lately, it seems to have eliminated any fruit flies even when lifting the garbage lid. The vinegar does dry up, so it's probably too hostile an environment for the flies to mature form the larvae stage.

However, I have found larvae around the edge of the garbage can. It's a good quality can, [SimpleHuman 10L](http://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/sto...emi-round-can). They seemed quite inanimate, probably due the the vinegar. For good measured, I soaked them again, then wiped them up. Unfortunately, dead-looking larvae also seemed to be in crevices in the garbage can that required vacuuming. Now, I took the precaution of tossing the vacuum bag, but it was a huge waste because it was largely empty.

So my question is, how likely is it that these dead looking larvae are actually alive but inanimate because of the vinegar trauma, but still have a potential to revive? What if they are simply very sedentary and not dead?

P.S. Some of the crevices were such that even vacuuming left one or two, and I drenched them in 70% isoproppyl alcohol. I later read that fruit flies saturate they offspring with alcohol, so that probably wasn't a great idea..

P.P.S. I posted this to [usenet](http://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=e...lt.home.repair) and [Stack Exchange](http://diy.stackexchange.com/questio...it-fly-larvae).

On Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:16:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Seems like a lot of trouble, when all you got to do is empty your trash
daily. -OR- Keep your trash can outdoors.....

Kill the sink drains too. Kill and use stoppers then fill with some water to act as a barrier. I use simple human products too but the flies don't give a damn. Put can outside and make it like new or toss it and start over. Do a real fall cleaning. Whether it helps or not I believe running my kitchen power vent grabs a Rouge fly here and there too while on a cleaning venture.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 3:16:36 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:16:54 -0700 (PDT), andymhancock_AT_gmail.com wrote:

Seems like a lot of trouble, when all you got to do is empty your trash
daily. -OR- Keep your trash can outdoors.....

It's an environmental thing. A huge bag every day goes to the landfill.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 4:34:48 AM UTC-4, Thomas wrote:
Kill the sink drains too. Kill and use stoppers then fill with some water to act as a barrier. I use simple human products too but the flies don't give a damn. Put can outside and make it like new or toss it and start over. Do a real fall cleaning. Whether it helps or not I believe running my kitchen power vent grabs a Rouge fly here and there too while on a cleaning venture.

The larvae are coming from inside the garbage. I'm just wondering whether I can trust that they are dead, or whether I have to change the nearly empty vacuum bag every single time (and hopefully there are no other times this year, since it seems to be seasonal). Can they even survive and breed in a dust bag? The vacuum bag isn't sealed.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 7:26:03 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 3:16:36 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:16:54 -0700 (PDT), andymhancock_AT_gmail.com wrote:

Seems like a lot of trouble, when all you got to do is empty your trash
daily. -OR- Keep your trash can outdoors.....

It's an environmental thing. A huge bag every day goes to the landfill.

Forgot to mention....hard to keep the trash outdoors because I live in an apartment. No balcony, I don't think that it would be a good idea to put garbage out there if I had one.

Andy,

Take out the trash daily until the infestation ends, then go back to your
old routine.
Rubbing alcohol or bleach will kill them. I doubt that vinegar is
effective.

Dave M.

On Tue, 11 Oct 2016 04:25:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 3:16:36 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:16:54 -0700 (PDT), andymhancock_AT_gmail.com wrote:

Seems like a lot of trouble, when all you got to do is empty your trash
daily. -OR- Keep your trash can outdoors.....

It's an environmental thing. A huge bag every day goes to the landfill.

If you were really concerned about the environment, you would NOT use
trash bags.

I rarely use them. I live on a farm, so we do not have garbage pickup. I
put all burnables (paper, plastic, etc) in one trash can (no trash bag).
I put all cans and bottles in another can (no trash bag), which I take
to the recycling center. I dont keep food scraps in the house, it goes
right outside to the compost pile.

On Tue, 11 Oct 2016 04:28:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The larvae are coming from inside the garbag

Wash the ****er out with bleach, and get on with life!!!

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 7:40:59 AM UTC-4, David L. Martel wrote:
"Take out the trash daily until the infestation ends, then go back to your old routine. Rubbing alcohol or bleach will kill them. I doubt that vinegar is effective."

That's what I had in mind after Paintedcow's suggestion, taking garbage out every night until the problem disappears. Environmentally hostile, but only a temporary measure. Thanks for corroborating.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 10:07:13 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 7:40:59 AM UTC-4, David L. Martel wrote:
"Take out the trash daily until the infestation ends, then go back to your old routine. Rubbing alcohol or bleach will kill them. I doubt that vinegar is effective."

That's what I had in mind after Paintedcow's suggestion, taking garbage out every night until the problem disappears. Environmentally hostile, but only a temporary measure. Thanks for corroborating.

Just a heads up...vinegar is not the greatest thing to spray into a garbage can. It may be a high end stainless steel can, but the screws will turn into molten pulps of rust. Isopropyl alcohol is a good alternative.