Fruit Flies Invade Restaurant in Holmdel, NJ

Challenge

One of Cowleys regular customers in Holmdel, NJ was suddenly having issues with dark-eyed fruit flies throughout his restaurant. Dark-eyed fruit flies are brown with dark, red eyes and their larvae are found burrowed deep into moist, smelly organic debris. The life cycle of these flies from egg to adult can be completed in a week's time, so it is important to locate their breeding site.

Although most of the time their breeding sites can be found in the kitchen, where food and excessive moisture can be favorable breeding sites, after a thorough inspection no fruit flies were found. These flies spend much of their time resting on walls and surfaces very close to where they breed. Knowing this fact, I proceeded to inspect the area where most of the fly activity was observed. Upon inspection, I found an area under the HVAC unit by the back of the restaurant that had a condensation pump that was not working. This was allowing water to accumulate on the floor underneath the unit and creating an ideal breeding environment for the fruit flies.

Solution

I informed the manager that the area must be dried out in order to control the breeding of these pesky little flies. The manager immediately had his staff dry the area and called an HVAC technician to repair the unit. Afterward, I treated the surrounding area with a fly bait to control the adult fruit flies and, as a preventative measure, sanitized the drains with a bio-foam solution. This solution contains natural microbes, enzymes, and citrus oils that dissolve the organic build-up in the drain and eliminates fly-attracting odors.