fruit flies not going near enough to mantids grrr

[nympho]

i have a big cage full of about 200 first and second instar violin mantid nymphs. it is about 60cm x 60cm and about 35cm tall, and its covered with white cotton sheet. nearly all the mantids hang from the top and a few on the sides. the cage works really well apart from a huge issue with feeding. ive tried putting sticks in but they dont use them.

when i put fruit flies in there seems to be 3 problems. first they settle on the sides and dont move about much. secondly they die rapidly if a jar of fruit is not placed in the cage, and then they go in and dont fly about. they fly about more (as if searching) if medium is not provided, but as i say they die of in a day or so. thirdly they dont fly near the top or walk about there and so the mantids rarely catch one. there seems to be a 'no fly zone' (literally) of about 2 inches near the top ! they get closer for a few seconds when i shake the cage but quickly settle again.

anyway, my question is does anyone know if it would be better if i change the material on the top to a see through type mesh. i want the fruit flies to fly closer to the top or actually settle on it. is there any other tips on feeding fruit flies. im suplimenting them with winged aphids as they are easily caught (not by me though lol), but they often chuck them away when they grab them so still go hungry mostly. some are dying and most look abit thin in the abdomen :angry:

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yes that will help, only because most go towards where the light is, a few people here make their fruit fly culture and then put in cage with no lid, this way the flies use the meduim to feed and lay and they still fly around for the mantis to catch them. The violin is not like the orchid, the orchid likes to sit somewhere upright, and the violin thinks it is a bat! :lol: They prefer to hang upside down and wait for food to fly by!

 

[PhilinYuma]

Yes that will help, only because most go towards where the light is, a few people here make their fruit fly culture and then put in cage with no lid, this way the flies use the meduim to feed and lay and they still fly around for the mantis to catch them. The violin is not like the orchid, the orchid likes to sit somewhere upright, and the violin thinks it is a bat! :lol: They prefer to hang upside down and wait for food to fly by!

Like Rebecca says. I currently have a couple of cages, 1/5 the size of yours, with about 20 ant mantis nymphs and 100 C. gemmatus, and I keep a pot of wild mels in each cage. This works well, because the gemmatus hang from the top and the mels fly to the light and visit with them, while the ants spend most of their time lurking and practicing looking like ants, and need a higher fly:mantis ratio in my estimation. In addition to making the top translucent, I would suggest that you use several pots of mels at a time. Also, if your ffs are dying that quickly, you might want to consider increasing the humidity in the enclosure. You will lose even more moisture when you change the top of your enclosure from cloth to netting. Good luck, mate!

 

[ABbuggin]

Have you tried house flies? I know L1 gongy eat them and they fly about a lot.