Fruit flies hiding in substrate

[Accordionme]

Hi everyone. I just got my first mantis (she's a little L2 ghost) and she came with a little fruit fly culture. I took 2 flies out of the culture (which was a challenge, any tips on that would be helpful). but they seem like they're hiding in the eco-earth. she's hanging from a stick and I'm not sure she'll catch them. Am I just being paranoid? Should I put a few more in there to increase the chance she'll find em? Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Accordionme]

NEVERMIND SHE JUST COMPLETELY ICED A FRUIT FLY THAT WAS SO SICK.

 

[Zeppy44]

Cool. Mine arrived to day, drank then dined in,  Now they at hanging around with after dinner clean up. Fastidious aren't they?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Fun to watch isn't it?

 

[CosbyArt]

@Accordionme Good to hear your nymph had no problem getting it's dinner.

Regarding methods to get fruit flies out of a container I know of two common methods, but it seems there are various modified versions everyone decides that works for them. The first is if you have flightless fruit flies, simply tap the FF container lid several times to knock the flies down. Then quickly open the lid and pour some into a funnel that is positioned over your mantis habitat lid or feeding hole.

The other is a method I came up with using a modified pooter design, see my guide here to make one, and it works equally well with flightless or natural flight variety fruit flies. With my FF baster simply tap the FF lid a few times, open it and suck up some flies, and then shoot them in to your mantis feeding hole. Also using my baster you can simply add a small feeding hole style opening on the side of the FF container as well, then you don't have to open the lid anymore - I do it about 1" from the lid top and simply suck the flies off the lid (or invert the flies container to pile them up for easier gathering too near the feeding hole).

If you need help about a feeding hole, see my guide here.