# Letter to Tommy...



## Katnapper (Jun 5, 2009)

I thought I'd share this letter I wrote to Tommy (bassist) to share with you all one of the very few glitches with the "auto-feed" strategy I've been using lately with fruit flies. I figured it might be more entertaining, and it says it all... without me having to write it up again, lol.  



Hey Tommy,
Just wanted to let you know the A. formosana ooth you sent me in our trade hatched today.
 Trying to remember how many nymphs (without going upstairs and checking... as I wrote it down on their net cube label, but don't remember now exactly how many).
 I think it was 27? lol
Anyways, I'm very pleased with the hatchout, and thank you again!
 
Oh....
 I guess I'd better tell you. I didn't want to, as I felt like a complete idiot.... but I accidentally killed one of the two poor little Orchid nymphs the first night I got them.
 I've been trying an experimental way to not have to chuck ff's in the containers every other day.... and it's been working pretty darn great! Well, with a few glitches....
 
I'd been putting a blob of ff media in the bottom of the individual nymph containers. It was working really well at keeping the ff's alive... and I even had them reproducing in some of the containers. All I had to do was mist! But I turned this particular cup on its side for some reason. And the next morning when I looked in the cup, the blob of media at the "bottom" had slid to the "side" (which was now the bottom)... and the nymph was nowhere to be found. It was like he just disappeared! I'm assuming the blob of media engulfed him like a moving lava flow, even though it wasn't runny at all.
 Live and learn, I guess.
But the other nymph has molted, and is doing great!!!
 
Becky
PS.... I'm re-thinking and trying to refine my autofeed strategy!


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 5, 2009)

_*OR*_ Katt, maybe the nymph saw the avalanche coming and pushed open the lid (easier to do with the pot on its side), escaped and pushed it closed again, just to make you feel bad. It is now probably lurking happily in the bug room, scoffing up stray fruit flies. After finding my two "survivors" (and there may be more for all I know), I'm ready to believe anything! :lol:


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## d17oug18 (Jun 5, 2009)

lol funny stuff lol


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## Katnapper (Jun 5, 2009)

Well, Phil... if your scenario were correct, he'd have a bunch of competition/enemies/eat or be eaten friends. With the 2 hatches of T. sinensis ooths loose in the bug room  (while I was unexpectedly gone having my appendix removed)... escapee ff's are slim pickin's in there right now. Just about everything I grab or look at has a little T. sinensis nymph on it staring up at me... :huh: I'm not even going to try to corral them... I try to mist them to give them a drink when I see them [yes, if you look in my bug room window and see me squirting the ceiling all over with a water spray bottle... don't be alarmed!] They'll just have to fend for themselves and watch out for my feet, the glue traps, and the vacuum cleaner. If they survive all that, the fittest will reap a cozy life eventually.   If that vanishing Orchid nymph ever does suddenly appear, I'll.... :blink: well, I'm not quite sure what I'd do! :lol:


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## bassist (Jun 5, 2009)

Didn't I tell you the orchids eat houseflies at second instar?


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## Rick (Jun 5, 2009)

About what I figured. I get a kick out of all these people trying to reinvent the wheel.


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## Katnapper (Jun 5, 2009)

bassist said:


> Didn't I tell you the orchids eat houseflies at second instar?


Ummm.... Unfortunately, I don't remember that part.  But on the bright side, I've learned what *not *to do in my quest to make feeding ff's easier and less time consuming.  



Rick said:


> About what I figured. I get a kick out of all these people trying to reinvent the wheel.


OK, Mr. Naysayer and Official Forecaster of Doom and Gloom...  But apart from the mistake of me turning the container on its side, it does work pretty darn well!


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 5, 2009)

Maybe the orchid pushed it over Kat! also doesnt it make a stinky mess to have the culture in the cup with them?


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## Katnapper (Jun 6, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Maybe the orchid pushed it over Kat! also doesnt it make a stinky mess to have the culture in the cup with them?


It seems to form a "skin" over it after a few days, but at first it is a bit messy. But I've never had any nymphs get stuck in it. Well.... except for the obvious one refered to in this thread that totally disappeared. It doesn't seem to stink... but then again, you know how you get so used to the smells.... so who knows.  :lol: The only reason I've been putting it in loose is I haven't figured out a way to make a small ff accessible container within my small mantis containers.... yet.


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