Colorcham427
Well-known member
OK.. so.. I ended up with atleast 100 flies and I dont think all my chams and mantids can eat em. just want to try this out, any people have step by step?
LOL +1. Rick gives the best and most concise answers.I've heard it is a messy, smelly proposition. I think I would much rather just let someone else handle that one. Good luck to you though.
+2! I hear they use fish (in some form) to feed the maggots, and I know they stink when I get them. I can't imagine how a breeding farm of them must smell!I've heard it is a messy, smelly proposition. I think I would much rather just let someone else handle that one. Good luck to you though.
lol thanks. i have access to a house fly media product, not sure if it works for blue bottles? if it does, hopfully i could share some and get you guys some...if you really want to breed flies, do some research on how forensic entomologists do it using non-meat based substrate using a mixture of full fat milk powder, wheatgerm, yeast and agar. I tried it once, the smell wasnt too bad but the results weren't great with maggots failing to reach pupae and the substrate moulding. I came to the conclusion that it was far easier buying maggots. Soggy dog biscuits or liver works really well...i worked in a lab breeding greenbottles using liver, and dog biscuits, and believe me, you do not want to try it at home. The soggy dog biscuit smelt like poo and the liver smelt like decomposing flesh; not pleasant.
the artificial diet that i am able to buy in bulk says its for Musca domestica / Muscidae.. i googled imaged this and these are def. house flies.. hopfully this recipe will work on blowflies...lol thanks. i have access to a house fly media product, not sure if it works for blue bottles? if it does, hopfully i could share some and get you guys some...where would u guys suggest buying the pupae? how long do they stay in the fridge for?
Yes. I have found that the medium that I have used successfully for houseflies, much like that used by SpiderPharm, doesn't work at all for bluebottles.Very likely it will not. Housefly maggots are coprophagous while blowflies are scavengers (or parasites). The substrate is different and as Chun's experiences show, raising blowflies on artificial substrate doesn't work well.
saying that, i did get houseflies/bluebottles to lay in an artificial medium; i just couldn't get them to pupate. Although i did it at too small a scale, and the medium was ridiculously cramped with maggots of all sorts, which could have explained why they didnt pupate due to the competition. If i remember rightly, one study concluded that Calliphora flies only need 3 essential nutrients (i think a certain cholesterol, vitamin B and protein) for maggots to develop and to induce oviposition. I can't remember the paper and i've forgotten how i came about it. I'll try and dig it up sometime next week.Universities often use liver as deposition medium for houseflies. The maggots are then introduced into the artificial medium which smells less. I suppose the low deposition rate is due to the rather odorless medium which does not stimulate the flies enough. Usually house flies use cattle and other droppings for development.
thats interesting. how big are greenbottles compared to blue?ah, i now know why it didnt work, the medium was for Lucilia. http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aez/36/4/521/_pdf
Bluebottle flies are only Caliphora vomitoria, so far as I know, but there are a number of shiny green blowflies, in the genus Caliphora that Chun mentioned, notably C. sericata.thats interesting. how big are greenbottles compared to blue?
thanks for your input dude.Bluebottle flies are only Caliphora vomitoria, so far as I know, but there are a number of shiny green blowflies, in the genus Caliphora that Chun mentioned, notably C. sericata.Full sized blow flies are generally larger than houseflies -- maybe 12-18mm -- which is why they are of importance to mantis keepers, but their size, like that of house flies varies noticeably according to their nutrition as larvae. I would guess, though, that the largest bluebottle fly is somewhat larger than the largest greenbottle.
As Christian pointed out, liver (buy it frozen iif you want to try it, and good luck!) is an excellent medium for houseflies and, I would imagine, bluebottles, and you can "flood out" the maggots and introduce them to another medium after about a week. At the beginning of the last century, horse manure was used and later supplemented with bakers' yeast , when it was found that HFs could be grown year round, but an apparently successful method was introduced in the US in the '30s that used an infusion of bran and alfalfa meal in an aqueous suspension of yeast and malt sugar (Diamalt).
I am currently raising HF larvae in a moist substrate of ground dogfood, with a few additions, flax seed oil and carotene (pulverized carrots), wood chips and active (bakers') yeast suggested by Chuck at Spiderpharm, perhaps the most experienced breeder of HFs in the U.S. In the next batch, I shall add Brewers' Yeast to see if there is any noticeable improvement. I have found and reported in another thread, that if this mixture is kept in a 32 oz pot with a standard perforated lid there is a danger of culturing anaerobic bacteria with the usual foul smell that accompanies such cultures and often, a fatal emission of ammonia. I am currently working with the same medium in open pots in 12" cubes. After a week's absence, the top of the medium had crusted over, but the flies are still attracted to it and the moist layer beneath is crawling with maggots. I hope that in another week or so, I should have a substantial number of eclosures, and there is no unpleasant smell at all.
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