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The bananas are turning brown, they're starting to smell a little over-ripe, and now they're
covered with fruit flies. Once you've got fruit flies, it can be hard to get rid of
them. But why is it so difficult to get rid of them? I'm Janice Creneti and this is How
Do Fruit Flies Grow? Well, fruit flies are an insect. They're an invertebrate which means
that they don't have a backbone. They have a hard crunchy shell instead. Well, the thing
about insects is that they go through a process call metamorphosis. You may be familiar with
the butterfly and the caterpillar. So let's look at metamorphosis and the stages that
a fruit fly actually goes through. Fruit flies are called fruit flies 'cause they're attracted
to fruit. And in addition to eating the fruit, they'll actually lay their eggs on the fruit.
Once thee egg hatches, it becomes a larva, or what sometimes you might think of as being
a caterpillar if we're talking about a butterfly metamorphosis. That larva will continue to
feed on the fruit. Then it will turn into a pupa. Now this is the point where it stops
eating, it's actually developing, sort of like a cocoon, again, if we're comparing it
to butterfly metamorphosis. Then, through that process, it will actually develop it's
legs, it's wings, and everything it needs to become an adult fruit fly. Once that adult
fruit fly hatches, it's ready to start laying eggs and making more fruit flies in your kitchen.
So if you want to get rid of the fruit flies, the trick is to get rid of the fruit. I'm
Janice Creneti and this is How Do Fruit Flies Grow?