Fruit Fly

Typically found in houses, grocery stores, and food processing plants near fermenting organic matter.

They feed on high-sugar substances, particularly ripening or rotting fruit and the yeast associated with fermentation.

Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of fermentation and lay eggs in moist organic material; they have a very fast life cycle, going from egg to adult in about 8-10 days.

While they do not bite and are not venomous, they can cross-contaminate food with harmful bacteria. They are also incredibly beneficial to science as a model organism in genetics research.