Trapping fruit flies

How can i trap fruit flies? What kind of fruit should i use? I live in a warm climate.

Hey gadunka,

I was having the same trouble then Superfreak, respected Mantidforum resident, told me to make a fruit/vinegar fly culture. This will attract the flies as well as trap them for cultivation, followed by annihilation

Have a transparent container ready. The size of it will determine the quantity of flies produced. Then add the following ingredients:

- Mushed up fruit (bananas, apples, grapes, etc.)

- Cat/dog food (optional)

- Dash of honey

- Hot water

- Wholegrain Flour (so that the culture isn't too sloppy, however, too much will dry the culture out)

- Dash of vinegar (white preferable)

- Tiny pinch of yeast

Mix it all around til you get a nice consistency. Add something in there that the maggots can pupate on. Corrugated cardboard, toilet rolls, sections of egg cartons work pretty well.

Poke a hole in the lid that can easily be blocked with a sponge. You're probably looking at 2cm in diameter.

Once your culture is prepared (& smells absolutely fantastic), put the lid on it, take it outside & leave it in a reasonably shady area (so it doesn't dry out) that's under cover to avoid drowning the culture. If you have seen vinegar flies buzzing around a specific area, put it nearby. Give it about a day &, hey presto, you have yourself a whole lotta flies that will meet there untimely doom.

Hope that was a good explanation. Happy hunting.

James.

Better to buy some but if you want wild ones set out some fruit in a container with holes in the sides so they can get in. I have a worm composter and when I lift the lid swarms of fruit flies come out. I have thought about trying to capture some and make a culture but really don't want to use these that can fly.

James, thats NOT what i said. I dont appreciated being misquoted and made to look a fool! I said to boil the dried pet food in some hot water (just enough to cover, maybe not even that) and to simmer it until it becomes mush and as much of the water as possible has evaporated (without burning the mixture!). Alternatively, you can grind the pet food first, if you have a grinder. Then mix that with the rest.

And considering he wasnt asking about making a culture, but simply trapping vinegar flies, id suggest getting a large plastic container and putting basically any rotting fruit (doesnt have to be well into decomposition, just what you'd see heavily reduced in the supermarket) into it. Oranges, melons and bananas have worked particularly well for me in the past. Keep in mind you can also use bread soaked in vinegar or alcohol. Cut the hole anywhere convenient for access later and leave the lid slightly open for about a day (if you know that the flies are around nearby) or a couple of days (if you need to attract them first). When you go to finally close the lid, make sure you do it as quickly as possible, as they will try to fly out!

superfreak said:

James, thats NOT what i said. I dont appreciated being misquoted and made to look a fool! I said to boil the dried pet food in some hot water (just enough to cover, maybe not even that) and to simmer it until it becomes mush and as much of the water as possible has evaporated (without burning the mixture!). Alternatively, you can grind the pet food first, if you have a grinder. Then mix that with the rest. And considering he wasnt asking about making a culture, but simply trapping vinegar flies, id suggest getting a large plastic container and putting basically any rotting fruit (doesnt have to be well into decomposition, just what you'd see heavily reduced in the supermarket) into it. Oranges, melons and bananas have worked particularly well for me in the past. Keep in mind you can also use bread soaked in vinegar or alcohol. Cut the hole anywhere convenient for access later and leave the lid slightly open for about a day (if you know that the flies are around nearby) or a couple of days (if you need to attract them first). When you go to finally close the lid, make sure you do it as quickly as possible, as they will try to fly out!

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O.K. I know that this is a "ff catching" thread, but the use of dog food as substrate and the term "vinegar flies" (a term that I have not heard since I was a child) were particularly interesting to me.

I have had mixed results with using dog food in much the same way as you describe it. I had hoped that it would provide sufficient bacterial growth used alone with a little yeast and vinegar, but it does not. I also produced a massive hatch of wild ffs when I left the material outside, but it produced huge amounts of ammonia (from the animal protein breakdown, of course) which killed first the flies and then the pupae. I have set up some cleaner cultures, though, and shall try the effect of them with yr additions. Currently, I am working with raising house flies using this medium. I have had several excellent results (32 oz [1L] pots yielding about 70 hfs with no fuss) but need to duplicate the results before talking about them.

As you say, bread soaked in vinegar (or, in Sophisticated Yuma, chablis) is an excellent way of attracting ffs, but I suspect that the vinegar that we (though possibly not Christain) use in our cultures, pasteurized and filterd, anemic stuff, is not what you need for the best bacterial production. I remembered "vinegar eels," the nematodes that like to feed on the supended material called "mother of vinegar" and found that it is quite readily available in both the U.S. and oz. I just called a local health food store and talked the assistant carefully through her catalogue until she found "apple cider vinegar with mother of vinegar." It's cheap. I shall get some. Fruit fly culturing is one of the most important things that we do; any advances in our procedure have to be a Good Thing. Thank you.

P.S. Do you find that the "healthier" (more expensive) brands of dog food produce ffs with clearer eyes and glossier skins?

P.P.S. IamWhoIam: In yr experience, do Aussie couples usually fight like this in public, or is this an East Coast thing?

Sorry Superfreak. I forgot to boil the cat food. But I made a culture yesterday & today it has a whole heap of flies in it. Sure you can catch them but culture is a trap & a breeder.

Eh, do whatever you want

well...truthfully, they breed pretty darn well on rotting fruit alone too In fact, probably much better than on medium!

superfreak said:

well...truthfully, they breed pretty darn well on rotting fruit alone too In fact, probably much better than on medium!

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Who are we to tell the poor vinegar fly where to live?