Fruit Fly (Common Fruit Fly)

Commonly found in kitchens, restaurants, and grocery stores where decaying organic matter is present; also found in gardens and orchards.

Feeds on decaying or fermenting fruit and vegetables, as well as the yeast and bacteria growing on these substances.

Attracted to the smell of fermentation; and they exhibit rapid breeding cycles. Females can lay hundreds of eggs in a very short time.

Primarily considered a nuisance pest in homes. They can potentially contaminate food with bacteria they carry, but they are highly beneficial to science as a major model organism in genetic research.