# Dark vs. Light



## *RYAN* (Aug 27, 2005)

so i bought a fruit fly culture and I was wondering ... would it be beter to keep the culture in the light .. or in the dark .. is there any difference ??? thank you !


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## Jwonni (Aug 28, 2005)

well with normal flies i think if warm they do there thing quicker so in the light i would say they would be warmer and their life cycle would speed up hence more food quicker but culture runs out quicker

suppose it depends how many mouths to feed


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## Reeves (Sep 7, 2005)

I keep my fruit flies in a dark cupboard and they seem to reproduce way faster that way.


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## Rick (Sep 7, 2005)

Never tried keeping them in the dark. I keep mine in the light and they reproduce fast. I doubt there is any advantage to keeping them in the dark.


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## Andrew (Sep 7, 2005)

There is one advantage to keeping them in the dark: The chances of the culture molding isnt as high.

Thanks,

Andrew


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## Rick (Sep 7, 2005)

My cultures don't mold.


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## chun (Sep 7, 2005)

you need the correct photoperiod, otherwiseyou will mess up the fruitflies biological clock (respectively messing up metabolic rate). I did some work experince at a parasitology research lab using ALOT of fruitflies. The fruitflies had a 12 hours day and a 12 hours night. So i doubt keeping them totally in pitch black condition would be beneficial for them.


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## Reeves (Sep 9, 2005)

It was just an experiment that somehow seemed to work for me. I noticed that when exposed to light the maggots became unsettled. So, I figured if they were kept in dark they would change into pupae more quickly. I've heard of others keeping their fruit flies in complete dark as well.


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