I wonder how this is going to turn out...

[mythal]

That looks like it should work. I think the fresh apple would work better since I've read somewhere it naturally inhibits mold. The starch provides energy for the flies/maggots, the vinegar convinces the female flies that fermentation has taken place, therefore they lay eggs, the honey as you said prevents mold and provides food - as well as possibly adding nutrients to the flies that are later provided to the mantises. The yeast further helps the fermentation, which is important for egg laying and the flour thickens it as you said - I may indeed apply some of these ingredients to future mediums.

My medium is potato flakes and water (uncooked instant mashed potatoes) with wheat germ (for protein) and a shot of Smirnoff Passion Fruit flavored Vodka. The alcohol of the liquor also provides a fermentation product, which female flies like to lay eggs in. This was successful, there are now tons of maggots and pupae in the culture.

Also it does not look like you "translated" anything until you said you did, when I noticed some slightly odd word combinations - "running honey" could also be said as "runny honey" or something but both are correct, or at least good enough for this native English speaker to understand exactly what you mean. Other than that your English is perfect.

Where are you from?

Thank you!

Yours actually seems to be quite a bit simpler, so maybe I'll give it a shot, too.

I'm from Finland and have actually studied English a bit at the University of Joensuu. Still, it's not always easy to use all the proper terms, but I guess it helps that not even all native speakers do so.

 

[JoeCapricorn]

Thank you!

Yours actually seems to be quite a bit simpler, so maybe I'll give it a shot, too.

I'm from Finland and have actually studied English a bit at the University of Joensuu. Still, it's not always easy to use all the proper terms, but I guess it helps that not even all native speakers do so.

Finland is an awesome place! A lot of my favorite bands are from Finland - Thergothon, Skepticism, Shape of Despair, Demilich, many many others.

Also, the proper terms depend on the dialect. In America alone there are a lot of regional dialects of English that have distinct (but small) differences. I live between Pennsylvania Dutch country and the city of Philadelphia, each has their own dialect. Philadelphia, for example, call sandwiches "subs" and plural second-person pronoun "youse" or "yiz" (which is like Southern US "y'all" or you all, or German "ihr"). Pennsylvania Dutch has a distinct German influence, from the language Pennsylvania Dutch (which is closer to High German than Dutch), for example if I say "The candy is all", which means "The candy is all gone", this is cognate from German "Die Süßigkeiten sind alle" - with "sind alle" being "is all" - I've also heard some terms such as "Spritzing" (light rain) or "Mox Nix" which are phrases and words borrowed from Pennsylvania Dutch. Therefore, the way I speak English is influenced by both Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Dutch dialects of American English.

Some trivia, the modern language most closely resembling English is Scots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language - This is almost what English would look like with all the French influences taken away. The second most related language to English is Frisian, which itself looks more like Dutch/Swedish than English. There is also a language called "Yola" which existed in Ireland, essentially the Irish version of Scots, but it is an extinct language.

So back on the topic at hand, huge number of pupae in the culture. The experimental culture is still going but not developing pupae as fast. The third culture is just remnants of that blue stuff, and is drying out - I've been misting it every so often. In the big culture it will only be a matter of time before flies start hatching out. This will probably coincide with Dio's molt to L6. I will also look into ways to provide the first group fruit flies, but it will likely involve a mashing together of lots of flies instead of single flies one-by-one. Mantis treats! I'll research methods to make these treats and post them here as well.

 

[Sparky]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but... HONEY. 100% pure honey works well as a safe anti-fungal/mold agent.

 

[PhilinYuma]

"Some trivia, the modern language most closely resembling English is Scots: http://en.wikipedia..../Scots_language - This is almost what English would look like with all the French influences taken away. The second most related language to English is Frisian, which itself looks more like Dutch/Swedish than English. There is also a language called "Yola" which existed in Ireland, essentially the Irish version of Scots, but it is an extinct language."

No. They lied to you son. In fairness, this nonsense was not invented by the Wikipedia contributor. I remember that my late sister Patty's husband, a lowland Scot said the same thing about highland Scots fifty years ago. . It betrays a long outmoded way of looking at language. Take "standard" (home counties!) English, remove the French borrowing since the arrival of the Normans in 1066, remove the German words which were integral to the Saxon language, remove the C19th colonial borrowings, principally Indian (which of course is not a language) and you will have what, certainly not English, Highland Scots? I have traveled all over the Western Highlands and don't believe it for a moment. Take that darling of the Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788). The Highland Scots referred to him in their own language, not English but Gaelic, as Teàrlach Eideard Stiùbhairt, (Charles Edward Stuart) but in "English" he was "the young pretender" from the French "pretendre" to claim.

Even Wikipedia never claims that Yola is "essentially the Irish version of Scots", because it isn't. The ancestral language of the Scottish Highlands is Scottish Gaelic, or Erse, and its Irish Gaelic equivalent is not extinct Yola (about which I know absolutely nothing) but living Gaeilg.

I am frequently impressed by your enthusiasm and imagination, Joe, but sometimes they run away with you. Here, with the best of motives, you gave someone with only an academic knowledge of English (though your English is quite correct, mythal!) information that was imbued more with wonder than accuracy. I think that you have said that you are in college. I am sure that you can find a professor in the English department who can suggest some appropriate texts on the subject. If not, please feel free to contact me.