Trouble with Houseflies

[Maddybelle]

I ordered 100 housefly pupae from Mantispets.com. They arrived safely, well packed, and promptly. I took out 6 to eclose and put the rest in the fridge. Well, only 1 out of the 6 eclosed, so I took out the rest of the 100 after a few days to see if any more would pop out. In short, I ended up with about a 5% hatch rate! :helpsmilie: I've opened a few pupae up to see what was going on inside, and there were fully formed flies in there, all dead. What did I do wrong? How the heck did I manage to screw up HOUSEFLIES?!?

 

[jrh3]

i had this problem also and i think it is some dealers keep them in the fridge so when you get them they are old and have reduced hatch rate. the only person that has had perfect hatch rates from my experience is glock34girl. and only takes 2 days to get to alabama from her.

keeping in fridge will reduce hatch rates.

 

[Rick]

I doubt it was anything you did. I have the same problem more times than I'd like. It is due most likely to the pupae getting too hot in shipment.

 

[Rick]

keeping in fridge will reduce hatch rates.

No it won't. Within reason at least.

 

[jrh3]

No it won't. Within reason at least.

are you sure rick. i have noticed that after1 week the hatch rate starts to decrease if the pupae is kept in the fridge. after 2 weeks it really starts to drop off. and some of the website dealers buy in bulk then keep in fridge until they are ready to sell. now there are some that do get them in on a weekly basis and they are always fresh. my experience is i hatch most out soon as i get them and have beter hatch rates.

 

[jrh3]

also i started rearing a few hf with joshs frogs hydei mixxed with a 50/50 mixture of powder sugar potato flakes and bee pollen them a little honey it works perfect and will be loaded with maggots but it stinks like crazy.

 

[glock34girl]

My experience has been, hatch them within a ten day window or suffer a severe decline in hatch rates. When ordering flies always always always always request insulation and cold packs.

 

[sally]

I ordered 100 housefly pupae from Mantispets.com. They arrived safely, well packed, and promptly. I took out 6 to eclose and put the rest in the fridge. Well, only 1 out of the 6 eclosed, so I took out the rest of the 100 after a few days to see if any more would pop out. In short, I ended up with about a 5% hatch rate! :helpsmilie: I've opened a few pupae up to see what was going on inside, and there were fully formed flies in there, all dead. What did I do wrong? How the heck did I manage to screw up HOUSEFLIES?!?

This is what I do... When I receive them I hatch them all in 32 ounce deli cups. I use the lids with the material on them. After they hatch I feed them for a couple days with honey I pour on the lid. You can sprinkle them with bee pollen too if you want. Then I place all the cups in the fridge. They stay alive a long time this way and are ready to feed. They wake up fast so be fast at getting them where you want them, lol. I do 250 at a time, but I have a lot of mouths to feed.

 

[Rick]

are you sure rick. i have noticed that after1 week the hatch rate starts to decrease if the pupae is kept in the fridge. after 2 weeks it really starts to drop off. and some of the website dealers buy in bulk then keep in fridge until they are ready to sell. now there are some that do get them in on a weekly basis and they are always fresh. my experience is i hatch most out soon as i get them and have beter hatch rates.

Not in my experience. I keep them in there up to a month or so sometimes and don't see a difference. But if I get some shipped to me when it is warm and the shipper wraps them too tightly they really do bad.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I buy from two different vendors and each week I have new flies. But even then the second week if I have left overs will see a decline, I never keep any over that time, it may work for some, but I buy so many unless I throw them out, I would have no room to keep the new ones, so to the freezer they go then the burn pit! But I agree, to hot damages them, hard to kill them with the cold, they overwinter in the ground, so freezing will not really kill fly pupae.

 

[Maddybelle]

Thanks guys. I didn't even think about to the heat! LOL, I guess that my idea of hot is different than most folks. The heat index a little bit north of me got up to 105*F yesterday!!

 

[jrh3]

Thanks guys. I didn't even think about to the heat! LOL, I guess that my idea of hot is different than most folks. The heat index a little bit north of me got up to 105*F yesterday!!

they dont understand alabama heat do they ,lol. hot and humid.

 

[Maddybelle]

And the mosquitoes! Ya step outside for a second, you're itching for a week.