Fruit fly substitute containers

[KevinsWither]

Any different housing means for fruit flies (like spice jars)? Could I use a smaller size like 16 ounce?

 

[CosbyArt]

You can, for example a FF culture I bought from PetCo came in a small 8/12oz container that is typically used for peanut butter. Also small vials/test tubes are used too for commercially sold cultures.

The only requirement seems to be to ensure it is plastic, as most insects can't climb glass (not 100% on FF though) and with FF that would make a culture crash as they would have issues escaping the food media. Of course with a fine mesh or coffee filter for lid ventilation.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Fruit flies are capable of climbing glass. The only thing you need to think about is that a shallow container will make feeding time extremely difficult with all the flies escaping everywhere and too narrow a container will mean there's not enough surface area for the maggots to spread out in. Too small a container will also mean smaller amounts of medium and higher likelihood that the culture will crash with too many flies. Those small vials are typically seeded with one or two females.

 

[CosbyArt]

Fruit flies are capable of climbing glass. The only thing you need to think about is that a shallow container will make feeding time extremely difficult with all the flies escaping everywhere and too narrow a container will mean there's not enough surface area for the maggots to spread out in. Too small a container will also mean smaller amounts of medium and higher likelihood that the culture will crash with too many flies. Those small vials are typically seeded with one or two females.

Good to know about the glass. Good points to be sure about the container size. The original container my newest batch of flightless flies came in was so small it made feeding time a pain (at least till my 32oz cultures I seeded from the original were ready).

 

[KevinsWither]

My plan is to have a smaller culture of the two species and regularly keep them in control so that when I need some for a larger culture, I can just dispense some in a 32 ounce spice jar or deli container. Also, where do I get poly fiber material?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Larger cultures will last longer as long as you remove most of the flies every time they eclose. Smaller cultures will run out of food much faster and it will be much easier to have the cultures crash and lose them all.

When you say poly fiber, I can only think of the cheap, fluffy material at Michael's that won't be good at retaining the wandering maggots. They'll just burrow right through it. I recommend using something like filter paper or even paper towel over poly fiber as long as you don't get it wet.

 

[KevinsWither]

Could fine mesh work?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Fine mesh will work, so would mesh-like fabric such as cheesecloth