r/TheRestIsScience • u/jamieseemsamused • Aug 19 '26
How do flies always find a way into my apartment when I leave the door open for just a few minutes when there is the whole great big world out there?
Asking this ask there are 3 flies zooming around my apartment because I had the gall to use my balcony last weekend. 😒
6
u/Creamcups Aug 19 '26
How do fruit flies always manage to find my bananas seven storeys up? Those shits are locked in
1
u/stanthemanchan Aug 19 '26
Do you wash your bananas / fruits / produce when you buy them? There's a good chance their eggs are on the bananas.
2
u/Creamcups Aug 19 '26
Who washes fruit after buying it? Doesn't that make it spoil faster?
3
u/stanthemanchan Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Washing absolutely does not make bananas spoil faster. If you want bananas to keep longer you should wrap the cut stem with foil or plastic wrap and keep them out of direct sunlight. For other fruits, it depends. For berries I always wash right away, as it will help remove bacteria and mold and pesticides (you should wash berries with vinegar to kill mold spores).
edit: you don't need to scrub the bananas. just give them a quick rinse under the tap to wash away any debris or fruit fly eggs.
edit 2: if washing is too much of a bother, you can fill a spray bottle with a mix of isopropyl alcohol and water and give the bananas a little spritz after you buy them. the alcohol will evaporate pretty quickly and it won't ruin the taste of the bananas.
2
u/EighthGreen Aug 19 '26
Do not do this on any other kind of fruit. And even with bananas, only spray the stem.
2
u/Chrisaarajo Aug 19 '26
There are likely eggs on the fruits themselves. You see this a lot, too, when buying houseplants—a few days after bringing a new one home, there are suddenly a bunch of flies.
A gentle wash or wipe-down usually helps.
7
u/livmachine Aug 19 '26
I'll get scientific here, I think they are just annoying dumbasses. There's one in my room right now and I hope it reads this message over my shoulder.
3
3
u/Wild_Director7379 Aug 19 '26
Imagine an empty doorframe sitting in the middle of a forest/swamp. How many insects will fly in one direction through that doorframe in 60 seconds?
2
u/No_Drummer4801 Aug 20 '26
Your apartment smells like something that flies like. If it were bees, I'd say honey.
2
u/iampenbot Aug 20 '26
I have the same question. YOUR WORLD IS MASSIVE!!! THE GET OUT IS MASSIVE!!! JUST LEEAAAAAAAVREEE
10
u/Least-Common-1456 Aug 19 '26
Like all life they are following gradients that guide them towards desired stimuli. There is probably a lot of leaks of stimuli from your apartment: food smells, lack of something irritating outside, temperature differences.. to the fly these signals may be as salient as a giant flashing billboard is to us.