# Fruit Flies



## Mantisking (Oct 25, 2009)

I have a store here in my location and there supplies (food) are from excellent sources and they dont sell fruit flies, but can order some, the owner has told me that there are different breeds of fruit flies she can order, so can anyone tell me the best breed of fruit flies are for my Mantises  .


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## Katnapper (Oct 25, 2009)

The 2 usual types are _D. hydei _and _D. melanogaster_. _D. hydei_ are the larger of the two, and _D. melanogaster _are the smaller size.

If your mantids are very tiny, you may require _D. melanogaster_. These are used mainly for newborn nymphs and species that are very small in size.

Some species of mantids can handle _D. hydei _at L1 (the first stage, or instar after coming out of the ooth). And some graduate to_ D. hydei _after molting to L2 or L3, depending on the species.

For general purposes, you will get the most use out of _D. hydei_, for a longer period of time. I actually use flying _D. melanogasters _quite a bit. But many people don't like to deal with the hassle of the flying kind (versus the genetically altered kind that cannot fly).


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## Rick (Oct 25, 2009)

What she said.


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## jameslongo (Oct 26, 2009)

+1!

I find that a mantis is more than capable of taking down anything 1/2 its size, if that helps.

You can always start your own ff culture. You can prep it mixture yourself &amp; put it outside in a shady area (next to a compost bin is a goldmine). I found that by doing this, both _Drosophila sp._ took to the culture.


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## ABbuggin (Oct 26, 2009)

+2 on what Kat said. On a side note, I've just started breeding a kind of fruit fly that is 3 times bigger than a D. melanogaster and twice as big as a D. hydei!! :blink: :blink:


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## Katnapper (Oct 26, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> +2 on what Kat said. On a side note, I've just started breeding a kind of fruit fly that is 3 times bigger than a D. melanogaster and twice as big as a D. hydei!! :blink: :blink:


If you successfully breed them on a large scale, let me know..... I'm interested!


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## PhilinYuma (Oct 26, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> +2 on what Kat said. On a side note, I've just started breeding a kind of fruit fly that is 3 times bigger than a D. melanogaster and twice as big as a D. hydei!! :blink: :blink:


Small housefly?


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## ABbuggin (Oct 26, 2009)

No, they are fruit flies.  



Katnapper said:


> If you successfully breed them on a large scale, let me know..... I'm interested!


That's what I'm working on! I only started with 7 caught via traps (2 male, 5 female). I now have about 100 and counting. I just started a few cultures from my "starter culture" and should have 1000's soon.


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## Rick (Oct 26, 2009)

Very cool Andrew.


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## kamakiri (Oct 27, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> No, they are fruit flies.  That's what I'm working on! I only started with 7 caught via traps (2 male, 5 female). I now have about 100 and counting. I just started a few cultures from my "starter culture" and should have 1000's soon.


Sounds good. But I think you should get an ID on the flies just in case they are on the agricultural pest list. Mediterranean fruit fly comes to mind first. I don't think Oriental FFs made it to the mainland ConUS.

EDIT:

I guess I was wrong about the Oriental FFs here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bactroce...istribution.PNG


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## ABbuggin (Oct 27, 2009)

I'm positive that they are fruit flies. They look just like D. melanogaster, just bigger. On a side note, I have taken them to the museum and they have been confirmed to be fruit flies by the entomologist. He was shocked to see such large fruit flies! :blink:


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## Katnapper (Oct 27, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> I'm positive that they are fruit flies. They look just like D. melanogaster, just bigger. On a side note, I have taken them to the museum and they have been confirmed to be fruit flies by the entomologist. He was shocked to see such large fruit flies! :blink:


I want some, I want some!!!! lol


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## ABbuggin (Oct 28, 2009)

I'll post a few pics of them just as soon as they upload.


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## JoeCapricorn (Nov 15, 2009)

I got this small vial of d. hydei from Petsmart. It took me about an hour and a half, running around to various pet stores, because I did not want to get another culture from Petco because all of them were in very poor shape.

Now, what I am curious about is... the culture the d. hydei is in is BLUE. Will it turn my mantises BLUE?

Other than the BLUEness, it seems my mantises enjoy these creatures a lot! They aren't too large like houseflies or too small like melanogasters, I can feed them one fly at a time and not have to worry about it not being enough. And the vial is smaller, so I'll waste less flies and the hydei are easier to grab with my comparatively big stubby fingers... so I have yet to lose a half dozen flies at a time (The foam stopper at the top makes it easy to extract one a time as well!)

Edit: Also, can I feed my mantises the maggots as well?


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## PhilinYuma (Nov 15, 2009)

JoeCapricorn said:


> I got this small vial of d. hydei from Petsmart. It took me about an hour and a half, running around to various pet stores, because I did not want to get another culture from Petco because all of them were in very poor shape. Now, what I am curious about is... the culture the d. hydei is in is BLUE. Will it turn my mantises BLUE?
> 
> Other than the BLUEness, it seems my mantises enjoy these creatures a lot! They aren't too large like houseflies or too small like melanogasters, I can feed them one fly at a time and not have to worry about it not being enough. And the vial is smaller, so I'll waste less flies and the hydei are easier to grab with my comparatively big stubby fingers... so I have yet to lose a half dozen flies at a time (The foam stopper at the top makes it easy to extract one a time as well!)


The blue color makes the maggots more visible than they would be in a white medium. That's it. Try seeding your ffs in cultures in 32oz pots. most of us do.


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## kamakiri (Nov 15, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> The blue color makes the maggots more visible than they would be in a white medium. That's it. Try seeding your ffs in cultures in 32oz pots. most of us do.


 :huh: I thought it was the mold inhibitor methylene blue? Regardless...it won't turn your mantises blue! :lol:


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## PhilinYuma (Nov 15, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> :huh: I thought it was the mold inhibitor methylene blue? Regardless...it won't turn your mantises blue! :lol:


No.

I'm experimenting with short answers, Grant, but that sounds a little brusque, doesn't it?  I used to thi k so too, but according to Carolina, both their plain and blue media are, "mold resistant [and] needs no sterilizing....Formula4-24 Blue contains a coloring agent added to facilitate observation of larvae." Someone in the Prete book seriously dislikes the stuff for some unspecified reason. Maybe it turned him blue!


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