So...how do I start breeding blue bottle flies?

[fleurdejoo]

I guess you can't really do this in the winter unless you have a heated shed.

 

[patrickfraser]

Production will slow down in winter with the colder weather, but California stays pretty nice most of the time. :cool2:

 

[zack4211]

u wish :lol:

just messin with u

have u ever reared soldier flies??

if you go to petco you can buy about 40 or so pupae for a few bucks and the average lifespan of the adult soldier fly is about 8 days so and the time from larva to adult is about 3-4 weeks. take a knock at it if you wish

 

[petoly]

I got an interesting story,

I'm still working on my method to get my pupae. My first attempt apparently the flies didn't like the dog food and didn't lay one egg. I was bummed out. Now I live in an appartment complex and I keep my "food experiments" out in my teeny tiny patio. The garbage can is also out there. Next to the garbage can I had a bucket with a couple of inches of bone dry coconut fiber that was there from some previous project with one of my tanks. it's been there for a while....a couple of days ago I noticed maggots in there lol! sifted them out. got like 300. Today there are more maggots in there... I think the flies are laying their eggs in my trash and the spikes are crawling out and into the bucket lol

 

[patrickfraser]

Whatever works. :lol:

 

[young1]

whaat? maggots can last 2 months in the fridge? i know they slow down because of the temperature and all but don't they need some source of food? or is the fridge like a cryogenic freezer for mags?

:helpsmilie: one more question, are the flies ready for feeding after they hatch or do you let them hatch in the food container and leave them for a couple days?

 

[patrickfraser]

Just a regular refrigerator. :lol: The cold makes them go dormant and then you just take out what you need to pupate. I will feed mine honey and let them work on getting some meat on them before feeding. You can feed them freshly hatched as well, but I prefer them to grow a bit and work on their wing muscles for a more substantial feeder.

 

[petoly]

finally some success. I used raw chicken. Didn't really smell all that bad

 

[patrickfraser]

WOOT WOOT! :clap:

 

[petoly]

you know, I used to hate just the sight of maggots. let alone how they move. Now they don't even phase me lol.

 

[patrickfraser]

It is sometimes mesmerizing watching them. Call me crazy. :lol:

 

[sinensispsyched]

It is sometimes mesmerizing watching them. Call me crazy. :lol:

Maybe I will!

 

[young1]

thanks for the reply guru patrickfraser

:yinyang:

 

[petoly]

well here's something interesting I discovered =), if you let spikes leave the food prematurely, and you let them pupate prematurely, and then you let those pupae eclose, consistently all the flies that come out of the premature pupae have no wings. figured I would post that here.

 

[sinensispsyched]

Is that how flightless flies were created? Wicked trick!

 

[Introvertebrate]

Many mantids prefer flying feeders, but how much flying can a blue bottle really do within the confines of a mantis enclosure? Are houseflies/blue bottles typically caught by mantids in mid-flight, or are they caught while walking around on the inside of the enclosure? If they're caught while walking/climbing, you might as well use some agile non-flying feeders like lateralis roaches.

 

[patrickfraser]

The mantis will catch them any which way they can. :lol: I also raise hisser and dubia roaches. A varied diet is always a good thing.

 

[Introvertebrate]

My point is this. It's a fly's high activity level that attracts mantids, not the fact that they're actually flying. The confined space of a mantis enclosure will largely suppress a fly's flying instincts. What percentage of mantis catches actually occur in mid-flight, and what percentage occur while the fly is crawling on the inside of the glass? I'd guess maybe 5% flying, and 95% crawling.

 

[patrickfraser]

It actually IS the flying and the vibrations from it which the mantis picks up on "audibly". The movement certainly helps visually. So the percentage is purely dependent on the activity of the fly. So I'd venture to say 50/50. Are you asking "Why use BBs?". They work great for me.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Thanks for clarifying that Patrick.