An influencer has revealed her hack for a simple, cheap fruit fly trap you can make at home – and you probably already have most of the things you need in the kitchen.

Pia Cuerquis, who is based in New York and Austin, Texas, shared the DIY trick with her 396,000 followers on Instagram. 

In a clip last month, she demonstrated how vinegar, dish soap, sugar and some sticky fly traps come together to ‘work like magic’ against the pesky insects, known to irritate homeowners during the summer months.

The social media star started by using a small vase, explaining that the ones she used are originally meant to be used for propagated plants.

Next, she filled it about half way, with apple cider vinegar, before topping it with Dawn dish soap. 

‘Just in case if they come in there they just die,’ she explained. ‘Because it’s too heavy for them? I don;t really know what the science is behind that.’

Next, Pia added some sugar to the mixture. She explained that this is because the saccharine scent ‘attracts them’. 

‘We’re making something that they really, really can’t resist,’ she said.

‘Then, we’re gonna take some hot water, warm water, whatever… put it in there, and then we mix it up,’ she continued.

Once this is done, Pia revealed she uses sticky traps which are the ‘star of the show’. 

The influencer said she got hers off Amazon, but didn’t specify which brand.

Options on the online retailer are priced from as little as £2.99 for 50 pieces of adhesive fixtures that can trap the critters. 

And if they don’t get caught by the glue, they can suffocate in the soapy mixture below. 

‘Here’s how I got rid of the fruit flies!!’ Pia wrote in the caption.

‘I have a lot of plants and had to also clean my drains but left the rest to my homemade contraption LOL.’

As Pia was filming her tutorial, she even managed to trap one unsuspecting fruit fly making its way to her demo. 

Her post racked up more than 271,000 likes, with commenters leaving their own tips and tricks in the comments.