How long, generally speaking, can a fly/moth survive in a deli cup?

[BipedalApe]

I’d like to start catching small flies/moths for my soon-to-be new ghost mantis, and my workplace has a bunch of them (especially on night shifts). I’d like to collect some in 32oz deli containers with a few air holes poked in.

How long would these insects generally stay alive in such a container? Should I add anything to the cups in order to lengthen their lifespan?

 

[Darth Mantis]

For moths you might could put sugar water in a bottle cap that might give it something to eat... maybe Im not sure maybe you could put a piece of watermelon in there and see of it eats that or maybe like an apple slice. As for how long it will live a few days unless you can find something to feed it in which case I would think it could live until it died from old age but unless you can find a food source that it can live off of for more than a few days it probably wont live long. I raised some eastern tent caterpillars till they turned into moths and I wanted to keep them after they become moths but I ended up just letting them go because I couldn't figure out what to feed them. Flies though I would think could live off of just about any food you put in with them so I would thing fruits would would keep them alive for a bit as well but im not sure. Also for air holes you may want more than just a few sometimes insects can need more air than you might expect.

 

[Ocelotbren]

How many are you intending to catch and hang on to at a time? If you just want to keep them for a day or so, long enough to get them home after work and feed them to your mantis, they should be fine with nothing. If you need them to last a few days though due to surplus, then yeah you'll need to supply water and food. I'm not sure what to feed moths although fruit seems like a good choice for both water and food. For flies, I keep them in a deli cup with a bottle cap of water and a bottle cap of crushed up cereal (I crush the cereal in bulk in advance with a food processor). Bluebottle flies last for weeks like this at room temperature for me. Smaller flies might have a shorter lifespan but this setup would work with them too I'm sure.

Hope it helps.

 

[BipedalApe]

Awesome, that was very helpful! Thanks, ocelotbren!