View Full Version : Fruit Issue---Bananas attacked!
HunterHSK
02-10-2010, 12:13 PM
Hey Banana lovers,
I live in Costa Rica currently, and I am addicted to bananas and plantains. I guess I picked the right country to move to.
I have a question about storing bananas. I buy fresh bananas from my local produce market. I always pick good looking bananas with few spots if any. However, every time I come home and put them in my fruit bowl, I wake up the next morning with a half eaten banana. It appears as if each night a bug or worm of some sort digs in to the center of a banana and eats it.
I live in a very clean, new home here. I have ZERO issues with any other bugs, and I spray for ants every couple of months. I can leave dirty dishes in the sink without a single ant or roach to be found, but I can't leave my bananas out anymore.
Does anyone have any idea what could be attacking my bananas over night? I eat like 2 bananas per day, and this storage issue is really freaking me out. Any thoughts or suggestions as to what this could be would be greatly appreciated.
Warm wishes from Costa...
Patty in Wisc
02-10-2010, 12:22 PM
That is very strange. I'd rinse the nanas when brought home- might be something already on them, or put them in a closed up paper bag & see what happens.
Just a first thought.
Bananaman88
02-10-2010, 12:42 PM
Weird. I'd suggest putting them inside some type of plastic storage container if you can't figure out what is doing the damage. Or, if you have access to any of those sticky traps you could place a barrier of them all the way around your fruit bowl and see what you catch overnight. And don't forget to share the pics with us if you catch something interesting!
Abnshrek
02-10-2010, 12:57 PM
A worm lives under your bowl. Oh yeah might be a fruit bat down there. No matter what it is if that happened to me I'd go trapping (hunting is for outside my home). I hope you catch the villain and post results :^)
Patty in Wisc
02-10-2010, 01:09 PM
How about a 6 hour camcorder set up while you're sleeping!:)
HunterHSK
02-10-2010, 01:16 PM
Thanks Patty and BananaMan for your initial thoughts/comments. It is truly puzzling me...enough that I joined a banana forum to try and figure it out!!
I like the idea of putting a plastic bag around them tonight. I washed the fruit dish thoroughly yesterday, thinking that something may have been on it. I sprayed the general area with some light pesticides.
If you guys saw the size of the hole these bugs ate, you would be shocked! Plus, there were not any trails left behind indicating that the bug or team of bugs came from someplace. This bar is elevated from the surface of my normal counter top, and just doesn't make sense...
Truly perplexed... I may take a picture of the eaten banana and post it later if it happens again...
Gabe15
02-10-2010, 01:33 PM
We often get mice damage to bananas when they are stored and ripening, sometimes they just eat a little bit, but other times they will eat half the fruit in one night. Mice damage is easy to recognize because you can see their teeth marks in the fruit.
How big are the holes, and what does the fruit pulp look like thats been nibbled at? Are there any patterns or specific textures on it?
LilRaverBoi
02-10-2010, 03:24 PM
Yeah, I was thinking mice or rats by the rate of consumption. Consider putting out some traps/poison. Maybe you could put the bananas in a bowl inside a much larger bowl so it creates a moat around it that things would have to cross...pretty medieval but it's an idea LOL.
My guess would be mice or rats--I had some eat one of mine as it was ripening on the tree. There is a wooded lot right behind my lot and I always have problems with them in my garden.
Bananaman88
02-10-2010, 04:37 PM
Yeah, I'm guessing a mammal of some sort (maybe even a fruit-loving gecko) rather than a bug.
Jack Daw
02-10-2010, 05:08 PM
Well first of all, are you sure that there weren't some critters inside already? You know, like a larval form or something that could react to lack of light by waking up and eating?
conejov
02-10-2010, 09:18 PM
Maybe its and Albatross?
lorax
02-12-2010, 05:33 PM
I'm assuming you've got screened or glass windows and that you close your door at night - small monkeys or tamarins will do the kind of damage you're describing, as will rodents of various shapes and sizes.... If it were bats, there would be a slit down one side of the fruit and an empty skin, not holes, and the rate of consumption is too high for most insects.
I'm intruiged, to say the least.
Jack Daw
02-12-2010, 06:11 PM
I'm assuming you've got screened or glass windows and that you close your door at night - small monkeys or tamarins will do the kind of damage you're describing, as will rodents of various shapes and sizes.... If it were bats, there would be a slit down one side of the fruit and an empty skin, not holes, and the rate of consumption is too high for most insects.
I'm intruiged, to say the least.
Maybe it was a sleepwalking neighbour. :ha:
bencelest
02-12-2010, 06:14 PM
My first thought are mice.
Patty in Wisc
02-14-2010, 09:31 PM
Hunter, did you find the culprit Just curious.
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