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| How to Tell Contamination of the Kombucha Culture by Fruit Flies or Vinegar Gnats |
| Fruit fly or gnats contamination can be just as serious as mold when dealing with the kombucha culture. This problem occurs mainly in the hot summer months when the vinegar gnats or fruit flies are most active. If you see what may be described as worms, maggots, or something crawling it is most likely these little flies in some stage of their life cycle. Fruit flies are primarily nuisance pests. However, they also have the potential to contaminate food with bacteria and other disease-producing organisms. This is the reason why it is so important to keep the kombucha mushroom culture tightly covered to prevent insect contamination. |
| Fruit flies are 2.5 to 3 mm long and can be found wherever fruit, fruit juices, vinegar, kombucha tea or other sweet liquids have been left out in the open. |
| The vinegar or fruit flies will lay their eggs on or near this food and within a few days the larvae will hatch. The larvae are small, 5 mm long and 1 mm across, and will be white coloured. These larvae or maggots, and the adult flies, main food source are fungal growth, such as mold, film-forming yeast, or acetic bacteria formed on the surface of the liquids above. Making kombucha a great attraction for these pest. |
| Click on any image to enlarge |
| The adult flies will lay their eggs, which will hatch in a few days. The larva will then climb up the side of the jar, as in the photos below, and change into the pupae stage hatching into adult flies a few day later. Keeping the kombucha container secured with a tightly woven cloth and rubber band or string is the best way to keep out insects and avoid contamination. However, the cloth must not be to thick, as not to allow air to pass into the container. You may also make a bottle trap to catch and draw the flies away from the kombucha brewing jars. See below on how to make a kombucha fruit fly trap... |
| Click on any image to enlarge |
Keeping the kombucha container sealed with a tight woven cloth and rubber band or string is the best way to keep out insects.
| Place the trap near the kombucha brewing jars to catch the flies or gnats before they can cause major problems. You may also use a little dish soap & old kombucha tea in a glass jar with no cover, works ever better! |
| Benefits of Kombucha : | : Kombucha Use : | : Warnings : | : Preventing Mold : | : Mushrooms : | : Bottled Kombucha Tea : | : Brewing & Care : | : Organic Starter Kits : | : Kombucha Extract |
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| We hope that our photo essay on fruit flies feeding and living on the kombucha mushroom culture has been informative. We believe through these photos you will find it easy to identify the larvae and adult flies and what tell tale signs they leave behind. To avoid contamination through gnats or fruit flies make sure to seal the top of your brewing jar or container with a soft cloth made of a fine weave secured with rubber bands or several rounds of string. Again, in the event of contamination, you'll want to throw out the whole culture mushroom and tea. Use a backup mushroom to start a new batch of tea. |