56 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

Well, you will not get parasite mites. If you do, the culture is done for, there really is no cure, but the normal decomposer mites are perfectly safe, and what I have found, a bit fun to look at.

[AntsAreUs]

Well, you will not get parasite mites. If you do, the culture is done for, there really is no cure, but the normal decomposer mites are perfectly safe, and what I have found, a bit fun to look at.

So when breeding these it's like throw in some food, throw something for them to climb on, throw in some flies and your good for a couple weeks?

[Gregory2455]

Yup, basically.

[Crystals]

When it comes to parasitic mites in a fruit fly culture, the person usually tosses the culture out and either uses a non-contaminated one or gets a fresh one.

[Gregory2455]

Freeze them first, maybe the mites would try to come back.

[dspdrew]

Parasite mites? How would you get rid of them?

If they are only there feeding on the medium, then they are NOT parasitic mites.

[DesertAntz]

I tried giving my colonies mealworms, which I wanted to culture, but they didn't seem too fond of them. I know they love insects of other kinds, especially wild caught flies, so I'm thinking of trying my hand at fruit flies.

 

One thing that struck me is that the ones you get at pet stores are remarkably small. Almost like they would be a snack for an individual ant. Do they grow to bigger sizes? It's not a problem I suppose but I'd rather not have to feed tons of flies as my colonies get bigger. 

[Gregory2455]

I tried giving my colonies mealworms, which I wanted to culture, but they didn't seem too fond of them. I know they love insects of other kinds, especially wild caught flies, so I'm thinking of trying my hand at fruit flies.

One thing that struck me is that the ones you get at pet stores are remarkably small. Almost like they would be a snack for an individual ant. Do they grow to bigger sizes? It's not a problem I suppose but I'd rather not have to feed tons of flies as my colonies get bigger.

A fruitfly for every five or so ants, but the amount of brood matters as well.

[drtrmiller]

One thing that struck me is that the ones you get at pet stores are remarkably small. Almost like they would be a snack for an individual ant. Do they grow to bigger sizes? It's not a problem I suppose but I'd rather not have to feed tons of flies as my colonies get bigger. 

 

D. melanogaster is the smallest flightless fruit fly cultivar, and D. hydei is substantially larger.  D. melanogaster is also easier to culture, in my experience.

[dermy]

Didn't you just leave a banana peel lying around?

[Chromerust]

I recommend mixing in a spoonful of Brewers yeast powder. It's highly nutritious and will produce way more flies than without. You can get it at health food stores around the vitamin section

[benjiwuf]

I tried my hand at these this year and they are ridiculously easy to raise. I didn't have any instant potatoes so I substituted with flour instead. I followed crystals recipe the rest of the way though. I still have the culture growing over a month later.

[Foogoo]

If anyone needs flightless fruit flies, I've got more than enough. I've already got a batch frozen and with only two colonies, they don't eat many. Despite starting new cultures with only ~10 flies, they become a full colony real quick. I end up feeding most of them to my carnivorous plants. Drop me a line if you need a starter culture!

[Gregory2455]

If anyone needs flightless fruit flies, I've got more than enough. I've already got a batch frozen and with only two colonies, they don't eat many. Despite starting new cultures with only ~10 flies, they become a full colony real quick. I end up feeding most of them to my carnivorous plants. Drop me a line if you need a starter culture!

Show us your setups!

[dermy]

Hell I started a fruit fly culture with 3 fruit flies!

[drtrmiller]

Hell I started a fruit fly culture with 3 fruit flies!

 

The smells of rotten fruit blend quite nicely with those of rampant incest :~P

[Mathiacus]

Wow terry.. just wow.