Do Fruit Flies Bite?

Video Transcript

"Those bananas have been sitting on the counter for a few days longer than they should have, and all of a sudden, you're starting to notice these little tiny insects flying around. Uh-oh! Fruit flies. It seems like once you get fruit flies, it's almost impossible to get rid of them. But should you be worried about getting bitten by one? I'm Janice Creneti and this is Do Fruit Flies Bite? Well fruit flies don't actually bite. And here's why: fruit flies don't actually have teeth. They have instead, what we would call a proboscis, these little injections right here, and then they have sort of like a tongue like mouth part that almost forms a straw. They inject material, enzymes, from their mouth, into the fruit causing the fruit to become more liquid and they're actually able to suck that liquid up through their mouth like tongue, or their straw like tongue, into their mouth. And that's how they actually consume what they're eating. They're attracted to just about any fruit, but in particular, they like ones that are really ripe. The reason for that is the riper the fruit, the higher the sugar content, and it's the sugar that the flies are going crazy about. So, don't worry about getting bitten by them, but if you want to get rid of them, get rid of that fruit, and you'll get rid of the flies. I'm Janice Creneti and this is Do Fruit Flies Bite."