19 replies to this topic

[TechAnt]

The title is self explanatory, but I’m going to elaborate on it more. So, I have been scouring the internet for good fruit fly cultures that I could buy. But I only have found ones with conflicting and/or terrible reviews. I don’t want to buy fruit flies that could be bad for my ants. So I wanted to ask what you guys use, if anybody could provide links, that would be nice.

[Antkid12]

 There are some at Josh's frogs: https://www.joshsfro...cultures-3.html

[ANTdrew]

There are some at Josh's frogs: https://www.joshsfro...cultures-3.html

I second this.

[SuperFrank]

You can buy them at Petco/PetSmart, I've seen two types sold, one is a small plastic tube with blue/teal media and contains D hydei (larger, darker colored). These are too small to be of use imo and I only use them to start my own cultures. the other is a peanut butter style container with a mesh lid that contains D melanogaster, these cultures are large enough to use and of course can also be used to start your own as well.

Real talk though culturing fruit flies is super easy, any plastic container will do, I use plastic drink cups from fast food restaurants (reduce, reuse, recycle!) Among other things. For food you can use instant mashed potatoes ($1-2 at the store), I also will often blend scrap veggies with water into a thin slurry and use that as the liquid I add to the potatoesto provide nutrients and pigments for the flies and whatever animals in turn eat them.

[ANTdrew]

SuperFrank,
How often should one start new cultures?

[TechAnt]

Thanks a lot guys, checking it out right now!

[SuperFrank]

SuperFrank,
How often should one start new cultures?

 

it depends on your personal uses, but roughly every week or two. For example since I keep dart frogs in addition to several odontomachus colonies of varying sizes and a large number of founding queens, fruit flies are one of my primary feeder insects, I usually have 3 - 5 cultures in various stages of development going simultaneously, this provides me with literally thousands of flies that i can feed live or freeze to feed later. Once flies have been added to a new culture you must wait a week or two for the flies to lay eggs and for the larvae to develop and the culture to "bloom". Once it begins producing it will usually last for around 2 - 3 weeks. A culture just needs media at the bottom and something to provide surface area for the flies to crawl around on, people use plastic mesh, crumbled up coffee filters, wood wool, pine needles, etc, anything light and airy that has a lot of surface area. after you add your media to the bottom add a teaspoon of vinegar to keep the mold down.

Edited by SuperFrank, July 12 2020 - 5:59 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I got golden hydei from Cape Cod roaches. They are really beautiful little bugs - you should see them in sunlight. Almost a shame to feed them lol.

Please note, after a couple months I had a huuuuuge mite outbreak in the bins. I don't know if they crawled over from my isopod bins or somehow were in the culture.

But I salvaged a bunch of hydei larvae, washed them in the sink, and put them in a new container with BigFatPhid culture mix, and now I have a beautiful golden hydei culture again. They're on their 3rd generation in the same container and I'll probably start a new fresh one with BigFatPhid culture mix again.

 

By the way here is a golden jumping spider eating a golden hydei so you can see some pretty gold on gold action.

 

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, July 12 2020 - 10:08 PM.

[Boog]

I picked up a small culture tube of wingless Drosophila melanogaster from a local Petsmart earlier this year. I've been culturing them since using my own media recipe. I tried out a different type, the flightless variety that could glide and they were a pain to keep contained when I fed my ants. It was a peanut butter type jar one with a mesh lid that I got from Petco, but they quickly developed a mite infestation so I got rid of that variety and I don't know if the store had a mite issue or if it was from the initial media. I personally like the wingless type because my Camponotus can hunt them down easily enough and watching them struggle with the gliding variety was not as interesting to observe.

 

So picking up a starting population of fruit flies is just the beginning, you'll need to learn to maintain cultures. I've been using small tubes as opposed to the deli cup types because I'm only feeding a few small colonies and I set up new cultures every 2 to 3 weeks. If you can't find fruit flies at a local pet shop, online is of course an option and the closer the source is the better chance of live arrival.

[PurdueEntomology]

I bought a vial from PetSmart and since then have just been breeding them myself.  They are so easy. I freeze them and most of my ants accept frozen flies.

[BlueLance213]

How do you guys actually catch them? or do you just freeze the entire container??

[akaant]

I place them in a large container and freeze them or just feed live. A few always escape and die days later.

[AntsMaryland]

I get mine from NEHERP.

 

Highly recommend.

[ANTdrew]

I don’t think I’m ever doing fruit flies again. That’s how I got a massive grain mite infestation.

[TechAnt]

I don’t think I’m ever doing fruit flies again. That’s how I got a massive grain mite infestation.

I wish I knew that before buying a fruit fly culture, hopefully me freezing them killed any mites that were there.

[ANTdrew]

That wasn’t enough for me. I pre-freeze everything I feed my ants, usually for weeks at a time. I don’t know where the F these mite came from.

[BlueLance213]

I am glad your fruit flies died shortly after escaping, mines proliferated and it took me a few days to kill all of them, I never had a set-up, so I regret that, need to find a container I can keep them in that when i freeze it they won't just fall into the medium and be wasted in it. 

[SuperFrank]

Tips for minimal escapees and easy management:

1) Always firmly tap the container on a hard surface 1 or 2 times before opening. This moves all the flies to the bottom of the container so they don't start jumping out as soon as you open it.

2) whether feeding live or dead use an intermediary container of some kind. Use one who's opening is at least as large or preferably larger than the cultures opening. Try to use one around 4-6" deep and line the top with fluon or oil. Tap flies into the container and then quickly reseal the culture. If feeding live you can then tap into various setups, if feeding dead you can freeze them.

3) I am about 3-4? months into testing so I can't say for sure but I have definitely noticed a significant reduction of mites if some sort of bacterial culture is added to the media, I have used yogurt, water kefir, and rejuvelac, all which contain strains of bacillus or lactobacillus.

Edited by SuperFrank, August 2 2020 - 7:22 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Someone said to freeze a mug or glass bowl or something in the freezer, then tap them out into that.

The cold shock stuns them for easy feeding.

 

Or put them in a baggie and freeze to kill everything.

Again, I also dealt with a massive mite explosion in one mini-hearth and that really, really sucked.

[BlueLance213]

Originally I tried to freeze them for a short period just to stun them, but I noticed the ants don't seem to care if they are half alive, fully or dead. So i just freeze them entirely, seems safer for them as well since I don't  boil the insects