Simple drosophila (fruit fly) containers using Gatorade bottles.

[Jay]

[SIZE=12pt]Hey there other Mantis enthusiasts. Here is how I quickly make my drosophila (fruit fly) rearing containers using Gatorade or Vitamin water containers and here is a picture of the finished product:[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=12pt]I linked to my blog because I did not want to repost all the pictures, but hopefully the finished product helps give someone ideas.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Hope you enjoy![/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]-Jay[/SIZE]

 

[CosbyArt]

Nice Jay thanks for sharing - a great idea if there are empty Gatorade bottles to be found. I wrote a response on your blog too.

 

[Jay]

Thanks Thomas! My experience is that these have been a lot more simple than the deli cups.

 

[Rick]

Thanks Thomas! My experience is that these have been a lot more simple than the deli cups.

How so? The insect cups have lids that are already vented and don't require modification. Insect cups are likely easier to clean too. The only advantage I see about a gatorade bottle is the smaller opening.

 

[Jay]

It is just my opinion, Rick - but the deli cup cloth lids eventually need to be replaced which adds a little extra cost, the opening has both more control in feeding mantids and in having flies crawl up and out and if I need extra containers I can usually find people around me who were planning on recycling theirs anyway.

Another thing is that I like the amount of fruit flies it produces. For my purposes, the vials produce too few and the deli cups produce too much. Having the right amount of production per culture allows me to rotate my cultures every 3-4 weeks. I try not to keep my cultures for more than a month because old cultures can be more susceptible to mites.

Although there is a drawback of having to learn to make the media more dry (to keep from condensation on the sides of the container) I love just screwing off the top and tapping the Gatorade container into the feeding area then screwing the cap right back on. (=