# @#$% fruit flies!



## Zeede (Feb 8, 2011)

So, my first nymphs hatched...and I put the first three I saw into separate paper cups and put some fine plastic mesh over the tops.

I go to add fruit flies to one, and the @#$% flies jumped everywhere into my kitchen except into the stupid cup! Then I find out they can get through the screen!

So, I have all the nymphs in a giant plastic container (one you'd use to carry around paperwork) with some tiny holes drilled into the lid...which apparently the fruit flies can also get out of.

I hate these freaking fruit flies!

Cameron


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 8, 2011)

Zeede said:


> So, my first nymphs hatched...and I put the first three I saw into separate paper cups and put some fine plastic mesh over the tops.
> 
> I go to add fruit flies to one, and the @#$% flies jumped everywhere into my kitchen except into the stupid cup! Then I find out they can get through the screen!
> 
> ...


No offense, but I found this pretty damn funny  Sucks to be you, though.


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## Zeede (Feb 9, 2011)

Well, I went to Target and got an 8 cup sealable container, so the fruit flies should be contained for the moment. It comes with a hole in the lid which I plugged w/ some foam, which will hopefully be enough air exchange.

The nymphs don't seem very good at catching the fruit flies. Sometimes they just jump away from the fly instead of catching it to eat.

Edit: Oh, there's one eating one it caught up at the lid...oh then it fell down...oh but it still has it in it's forearms! Darn it! Another nymph fell down on it and it let the fly go, which is wounded now and not moving...which means the nymphs won't finish eating it...sigh what a waste...

I ordered some little mantis cups, the ones with a foam plug already in the lid, but how do you guys get the fruit flies into the cups?

Cameron


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## Rick (Feb 9, 2011)

Use the 32 oz insect cups with the cloth lids for your nymphs. I use a funnel system to transfer flies. Each ff culture is a 32 oz insect cup with a hole in the side blocked by a foam plug. The mantis cups have the same hole in the side (or top). The easiest way I have found is to keep a seperate fruit fly vial to put the flies in first. Tap the ff culture to get the flies to the bottom. Then put your funnel in the vial and tap the flies into it. Put a foam plug in the vial and use that to transfer your flies into the mantis cups. You can skip putting flies into a vial if you want, but it is easier to use that then it is to try and pour from one 32 oz cup to another through holes. It is doable if your hole in the mantis cup is on the top.

Next I insert the funnel into the mantis cup through the hole and then tap the ff vial to get the flies to the bottom. Once I do that I remove the plug from the vial and tap flies into the mantis cup through the funnel. Replace the plug on the mantis cup and you're done. You can also culture your flies in those vials, which would eliminate a step, but the cultures are small and don't last long. You have to do a lot of tapping with ff's to keep them under control.

I find this technique much easier than what a lot of people do. Try different methods until you find what works for you. Or come up with your own method. It's all very simple really. I lose very few flies doing this and I am do it very quickly.


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 9, 2011)

Every one has their own way, it is what works for you. I just open the lid and dump, then relid FAST! You always lose a few, I still after all this time go to catch the escapees, and always say to self "Self, while u r searching for the one, the others escape!" :lol:


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## Zeede (Feb 9, 2011)

Ooh, thanks for the suggestion with the funnel! Yes, those fruit flies are quite the escape artist.

I've ordered the cups with the foam hole in the lid as well as a big bag of the excelsior "bedding" stuff.

Cameron


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## Rick (Feb 10, 2011)

Zeede said:


> Ooh, thanks for the suggestion with the funnel! Yes, those fruit flies are quite the escape artist.
> 
> I've ordered the cups with the foam hole in the lid as well as a big bag of the excelsior "bedding" stuff.
> 
> Cameron


Despite what others may say you don't need a lot of that excelsior in there. It can make getting the flies out difficult if you use too much. I use a ball about the size of a ping pong ball or nothing at all.


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## dgerndt (Feb 10, 2011)

I went to Jo-Ann fabrics and got tightly woven mesh that I hot glued over circles cut in the lids of deli cups. I can mist through the mesh and I can see through it rather well. It keeps those pesky melanogasters in, and my mantids don't have a problem hanging onto it. I highly recommend this method. It's cheap and easy.

To keep the ff's from climbing too close to the lid of the culture jar (or the mantis enclosure), you can just tap the bottom on a desk or other hard surface. This knocks the ff's back down to the bottom so they have to start their climb all over again. And don't worry about ff's going to waste or your nymphs having trouble catching them. Ff's reproduce like CRAZY, and your nymphs will get better the more the practice.


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## nebrakacinese (Feb 11, 2011)

I use a measuring cup,dump the flies in it ,and then use the pouring spout to put the flies in the hole.I have a funnel but this is the easiest way i've found.


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## yoshi9 (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm new so I don't have much info for how to do this either but I do have problems with esapes trying to put them with my chameleons. The funnel system sounds pretty cool a few pics would be awesome!! And for your escape ff get a chameleon


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## GreenOasis (Feb 24, 2011)

Why would you guys take the whole lid off of a fruit fly culture? :blink: 

I just loosen one edge of the lid and hold it slightly open with my finger while I tap out a few flies into the mantid's cup. If the mantis is a "jumpy" one, I also just loosen his lid (all the way, but don't take it off) and move it over slightly so that there's just a max 1" crescent-shaped gap for me to tap flies through. (While holding the open edge of the ff culture VERY close to prevent them jumping out &amp; around the edge of the cup.) Occasionally, I have a sneaky mantid that tries to crawl up out of that little space, but I just use the lid to coax him back in with the flies.


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## d17oug18 (Feb 24, 2011)

GreenOasis said:


> Why would you guys take the whole lid off of a fruit fly culture? :blink:
> 
> I just loosen one edge of the lid and hold it slightly open with my finger while I tap out a few flies into the mantid's cup. If the mantis is a "jumpy" one, I also just loosen his lid (all the way, but don't take it off) and move it over slightly so that there's just a max 1" crescent-shaped gap for me to tap flies through. (While holding the open edge of the ff culture VERY close to prevent them jumping out &amp; around the edge of the cup.) Occasionally, I have a sneaky mantid that tries to crawl up out of that little space, but I just use the lid to coax him back in with the flies.


+2 i use the exact system she does


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## minty (Feb 26, 2011)

if u put an old peice of fruit in there the flies should breed in it &amp; u won't have to put any more in there for a while


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## alicenwnderlnd (Mar 26, 2011)

timtam said:


> if u put an old peice of fruit in there the flies should breed in it &amp; u won't have to put any more in there for a while


I put a piece of fruit at the top of the encloser so the fruit flies have to walk by the mantis to get to it :lol: if the mantis doesn't get it, than at least they are staying close to the top for a snack later. keeps the ff from hiding at the bottom where the mantis is not going to be. works pretty good for me.


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## ninoupte7 (Jan 15, 2014)

How best to hot glue mesh to cup lid?

-NinoUpte7


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## Aryia (Jan 27, 2014)

Refrigerate the little bastards. I hate fruit flies too.. still experimenting with ways. Sucks that I can't be "quick" about it because I'm too scared to squish my nymphs that decide to hang around the top of the cup.


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