# hydei AND melanogaster=Tragedy



## MantidLord (Sep 27, 2008)

Okay, so two days ago I went to Petsmart to buy some fruit flies. They only sell flightless fruitflies, and I bought two viles and went home. When I got home, I opened up one of the mantis containers where I had about 20 L1 Iris oratoria nymphs. I opened up the foam plug, and tried to tap the fruitflies into the container. But when I tried, about a dozen small fruitflies flew out of the vile. I quickly closed the container back up. After closer inspection, I realized that there were both hydei and melanogaster in the vile. Petsmart only sells hydei, and that's what the vile says as well. Yet there are smaller fruitflies in the viles as well. Not only that, but they can fly. The hydei still can't fly, they can only jump around. But since they're in the same container, I had to freeze the vile for a little while. That worked well yesterday, but today got even worse. I was trying to feed some more nymphs, so I put the vile in the freezer. I forgot about it, and about 20 minutes later, I ran to the freezer and took the vile out. None of them were moving, same as yesterday, so I figured they'd get up eventually and start crawling/flying around. Now its about 2 hours later, and they're still not moving. Not even the maggots are moving. So now I have to wait and see if the pupae will hatch as well, or die like the rest of them seemed to have done.

So, does anyone know if the flies will get up, or are they dead? Also, has anyone ever have this happen to them, should I tell the store what happened? I was actually kind of glad that they could fly, but not that I had to freeze them and not happy with the results. Any advice or opinions on what to do and about the fruitflies is greatly appreciated. Thank-you


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## OGIGA (Sep 27, 2008)

Umm, I got some "hydei" at Petsmart before and they were all melanogaster. Oh, and they can't fly.

Okay, so if you actually froze the container (20 minutes), then they're all dead.


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## kakistos (Sep 27, 2008)

They are all dead.

I would go back to the store and ask for a replacement, because they did not supply D.hedrei like they said they would.

On this forum you can easily learn how to breed D.melanogaster yourself, if you like them flying. or not-flightless D.hedrei.


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2008)

Those places are the worst places to get fruit flies. Order them online from a good breeder.


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## OGIGA (Sep 27, 2008)

I think those places are the best place to get (flightless) fruit flies. They're cheap and they're local. Well, if they're not local, then forget it. Of course, the cultures they sell suck, but I hope you're getting them just for starting new cultures.


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2008)

OGIGA said:


> I think those places are the best place to get (flightless) fruit flies. They're cheap and they're local. Well, if they're not local, then forget it. Of course, the cultures they sell suck, but I hope you're getting them just for starting new cultures.


Maybe where you are but around here the cultures are usually nearly dried up with very few flies which in my opinion is not a good choice.


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 27, 2008)

I have froze mine for an hour or a liitle more once. The maggots survived, the flies died. Only thing is it was in a 32 oz container so it may make a difference then the small vial the store sells, just wait and see, but get something else in the meantime. But the store should refund or replace it because flying flies got inside the culture and ruined it and that is why u had to chill it, not because u wanted to have freeze popflies!


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## MantidLord (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you all. I did buy the flies for starting a new culture, but I needed to feed the dead flies to the mantids. So far nothing has moved (not even the maggots). Hopefully the pupae will hatch. I have started a new culture, and resorted to leaving one outside with hopes of attracting some more fruit flies. The cultures they sell at stores say they last for five weeks, when in reality they only last for 1-2 weeks. Does anyone have a clue how melanogaster got in the container? I'm thinking they were wild, since they could fly but the hydie still couldn't fly. I will try and return the fruitflies, but I don't know if they'll let me replace them since the melanogasters are dead. Had I took them back yesterday when there were 50+ melanogaster crawling around, I would have gotten a replacement. The pet stores suck when it comes to cultures. So yes, I've started my own culture, and I took maggots from the store culture and put them in the new ones. Hopefully they'll pupaet (is that a word) and hatch/breed. Only time will tell. So far the maggots are swimming around and wiggling in the air. Fingers crossed. Thanks guys. See ya.


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## etb99 (Sep 28, 2008)

Why would you want to put them in the freezer? If you put them in the fridge you get the same effect, but it won't kill them if you forget them and leave them there for an hour.


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## Rick (Sep 28, 2008)

etb99 said:


> Why would you want to put them in the freezer? If you put them in the fridge you get the same effect, but it won't kill them if you forget them and leave them there for an hour.


I put mine in the freezer if they can fly. It is much quicker. I set a timer to ensure I won' t forget. If they are flightless I don't cool them down simply because they won't fly.


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## etb99 (Sep 28, 2008)

Rick said:


> I put mine in the freezer if they can fly. It is much quicker. I set a timer to ensure I won' t forget. If they are flightless I don't cool them down simply because they won't fly.


You don't get my point. I understand you do it so they won't fly. But if you use a fridge you don't need an alarm, no worries about forgetting them. And as for quicker, what difference do a few minutes make? But do as you please.


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## OGIGA (Sep 28, 2008)

etb99 said:


> You don't get my point. I understand you do it so they won't fly. But if you use a fridge you don't need an alarm, no worries about forgetting them. And as for quicker, what difference do a few minutes make? But do as you please.


It's just a preference. Some people just know that they're forgetful (like me) and some remember everything.


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## Dwaink (Sep 29, 2008)

OGIGA said:


> It's just a preference. Some people just know that they're forgetful (like me) and some remember everything.


Hi,

Yes cold does slow them down, either way. In the 1,000 of flies i have cultured and the over 10 different formulas that i have experimented with and still experimenting, the different types of flies, including golden Hydei i have found that if the temps get to high like in the store in a small vial the flies will revert back to their original matrix, if they have wings will be able to fly, or a wild fly got in some how. All flies love the fruit fly formula. They might have not been fruit flies at all in the vial with the other fruit flies. if you can take them back then fine, better to start your own anyway. Hope you new cultures are coming along fine, wait and see. Good luck!!

Regards


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