Fruit Fly Massacre!

[Eric]

I want to warn you....if you get those fruit flies that say "Flightless Fruit Flies" that the pet store normally carries...well....they are not flightless. Just the other day I got them (I said "Oh Goody! the dont fly")...boy was i wrong. I went home and opended them up. First second...look at em scale the walls, then out of no where WHOOSH! it least 100 of them take of into the air in my room. Scary... so i laided out a bowl of honey, went to bed and in the morning about 50 fruit flies and 10 ants where stuck (dead) in the bowl.

Thats my story. I have a feeling i will be seeing them soon.

 

[Jackson]

Hint - put the flys in the freezer for 2 mins (may take up to 5, just keep checking) until the become dormant and stop moving. Put them in the mantis enclosure and the should wake up shortly after and start flying around normally.

Believe me your not the only one to find out the hard way

 

[robo mantis]

lol that happens to me all the time somtimes i get them flightless and somtimes i don't :lol:

 

[Eric]

Haha, thanks for the info guys

 

[robo mantis]

no problem :wink: we all learned the hard way :lol:

 

[Rick]

EVERY time I have bought flightless fruit flies they were just that, flightless. Try ordering them online instead because over time they do start to fly again but it takes months.

 

[Geckospot]

I have been getting my FF from Edsflymeat.com. The cultures are very large, and none of them fly. She is very helpful and answers all of my questions. They also sell a really good FF medium.

www.Geckospot.com

 

[yen_saw]

I use wingless ff (D. Melanogaster), but i couldn't find wingless D. Hydei

 

[Samzo]

i get wingless d.heidi but i sometimes get a few D. Melanogaster in there also which do fly! bit annoying really as they get everywher lol

 

[Ian]

What I have heard you can do, is put them in the freezer, or fridge to cool them right down, so they basically dont move, then you can effectively pour them into what you want, and after a while, they will spring back to life.

Cheers,

Ian

 

[zmuppett]

I noticed that the ones I get that are brownish can fly ...

the ones I have gotten that are black with a red spot on them do not fly .

I always try and get the black ones from the store ...

I am in the us and this is what I have found to be true with what is available from my local pet stores ...

 

[infinity]

or as a suggestion, try opening them outside in a larger container... the winged ones will fly away and the flightless will just run.

If you want to keep a culture going- look out for the tan-ish coloured flies- they're the virgins and if they're flightless, then that flightless gene will be passed on. if they're not tanned, then they may already have mated and might be carrying flying offspring. Safest option here would be to separate out maybe 10 pupae and put them into individual containers- that way you know they won't have mated... then simply stick all the flightless ones together and you'll have a pure fresh stock.