Fly Larvae

[athicks]

I just bought fly larvae from Grubco and am curious what happened.

I recieved the package but in all the cup there are little black things and maybe 2 white larvae that look more soft-bodied than meal worms. I am curious if the shipment got to hot and the fly larvae died?

Or are they pupating and I am about to have a million flies?

Quick help would be appreciated

+Should I refrigerate?

 

[randyardvark]

probably pupae, unless they look like black maggots, if they are more oval then they are pupae give them a week, you can split them into batches and refrigerate the meaning you should have a steady supply of food (take one batch out when the 1st have emerged ect,

but you dont need to refrigerate them

 

[Rick]

I would contact Grubco for a replacement. They do turn dark when they are pupating but when they turn black it means they are dead. Grubco will do you right.

 

[athicks]

Hmm, ok. I am pretty sure that they are pupae because I found two live grubs crawling around and they look a lot longer than what all the black things are.

But, how long does it take pupae to hatch? (about a week?) I only have a few mantids and they don't really need so many flies!

Right now they are in the (12) cups of 50. Could I take out 5 or so of the (maybe) pupae and put them into mantis cages?

When they hatch, how large are the flies? If they are too tiny they might escape!

But I think I am going to contact Grubco for at least a partial re-send

 

[athicks]

On the plus side... few (5-ish) fly grubs moving around look delicous!

 

[Rick]

Even if they are not dead they will all hatch about the same time and you will have hundreds of flies. I think they're dead since they are black.

 

[athicks]

OK, thanks Rick. I'll call Grubco tomorrow. I think it is because they were stuck in transit over the weekend.

 

[OGIGA]

Hmm, I didn't know they would have a live shipment waiting around for a Monday to come. Anyway, they take about 5 days but maybe less now that the weather is warmer. Are they really black or are they dark brown?

 

[athicks]

Quite the mix, some brown, some reddish-brown and some black.

I looked at this site: http://deathonline.net/decomposition/corps...flies/pupae.htm

and the things look similar although more black on average.

It has been a really hot few days in Phili, with high humidity.

 

[OGIGA]

I say they're fine then. I don't know why they're so red in that picture.

 

[Rick]

OK, thanks Rick. I'll call Grubco tomorrow. I think it is because they were stuck in transit over the weekend.

Stuck in transit over the weekend? Yeah call em up. You don't want dead and already pupating maggots. You want fresh maggots you can put in the fridge and take out when you're ready for them to pupate.

 

[Birdfly]

Sounds like you have healthy fly pupa, dont worry, just stick them in the fridge bar one cup of x amount [depends how many mantids you have to feed] take out a small amount every few days to a warm area, not in the sun. I have read it takes 10 days for greenbottles to hatch out and a bit more for blue bottles, but in my experience it takes a bit longer.

Gut load the flies when they hatch with honey or fruit pulp for a few days then feed them to your mantids.

Some times a tiny spray of water will help them hatch out if they are close, but they must not be wet or they will rot.

 

[OGIGA]

Yeah, don't ever put them in the sun. I thought it would make them eclose faster, but it killed them instead.

 

[Rick]

Sounds like you have healthy fly pupa, dont worry, just stick them in the fridge bar one cup of x amount [depends how many mantids you have to feed] take out a small amount every few days to a warm area, not in the sun. I have read it takes 10 days for greenbottles to hatch out and a bit more for blue bottles, but in my experience it takes a bit longer.Gut load the flies when they hatch with honey or fruit pulp for a few days then feed them to your mantids.

Some times a tiny spray of water will help them hatch out if they are close, but they must not be wet or they will rot.

You read wrong. My bluebottles take no longer than a week to turn into flies.

Did you call Grubco for a replacement athicks? Remember you paid for fresh maggots not black dead or already pupated maggots.

 

[athicks]

I did call Grubco today.

But the phone-person said that she could not help me, not even to try re-shipping the order. Apparently they "do not garuntee live delivery when the temperature exceeds high 80's."

I had two problems with this policy:

1) Their promise to attempt redelivery twice should not be negated by saying that they do not garuntee live delivery. I don't mind getting black maggots twice more as long as Grubco lives up to their promise.

2) Their temperature is high ninetees, but the temperature in Philladelphia was low eighties. Their temperature should not really affect my receival of the grubs.

The phone-person said that I should call back Friday when their owner is in. I will call back then, and hopefully it will have cooled down and not heated up.

Thanks for your help everyone though.

 

[yen_saw]

I had the same problem using priority mail which sometimes take 4-5 days, so i use express mail and it works out alright (all larvae are alive). I did request them to re-ship the parcel once when all larvae were dead (using priority mail), the larvae is free but i have to pay for shipping fees. However, the result is the same where all larvae die under Houston heat.

 

[athicks]

Well, i think I can handle shipping fees. I mean, i have already invested in this and it is nice to have a steady source of food.

 

[Birdfly]

Sounds like you have healthy fly pupa' date=' dont worry, just stick them in the fridge bar one cup of x amount [depends how many mantids you have to feed'] take out a small amount every few days to a warm area, not in the sun. I have read it takes 10 days for greenbottles to hatch out and a bit more for blue bottles, but in my experience it takes a bit longer.Gut load the flies when they hatch with honey or fruit pulp for a few days then feed them to your mantids.

Some times a tiny spray of water will help them hatch out if they are close, but they must not be wet or they will rot.

You read wrong. My bluebottles take no longer than a week to turn into flies.

Yes i did read wrong, bluebottles take longer than 10 days to hatch from pupal stage. I dont see the point in ordering maggots when its the flies you want, if you get the pupa you are one step closer to getting the flies!!

 

[Rick]

Sounds like you have healthy fly pupa' date=' dont worry, just stick them in the fridge bar one cup of x amount [depends how many mantids you have to feed'] take out a small amount every few days to a warm area, not in the sun. I have read it takes 10 days for greenbottles to hatch out and a bit more for blue bottles, but in my experience it takes a bit longer.Gut load the flies when they hatch with honey or fruit pulp for a few days then feed them to your mantids.

Some times a tiny spray of water will help them hatch out if they are close, but they must not be wet or they will rot.

You read wrong. My bluebottles take no longer than a week to turn into flies.

Yes i did read wrong, bluebottles take longer than 10 days to hatch from pupal stage. I dont see the point in ordering maggots when its the flies you want, if you get the pupa you are one step closer to getting the flies!!

Not in my eyes. If I order 1000 maggots I want maggots not a bunch that have already pupated. Then I can control when they pupate to better manage them turning into flies.