Where can I get screen/mesh able to contain fruitflies?

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dgerndt

dgerndt

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The title pretty much says it all. I have nymphs that need to be fed fruitflies and I'm making a new fruitfly culture. I have a little bit of screen, but the holes are too big and the fruitflies can escape. For now, I poked holes in the plastic deli cup lids with a small safety pin.

 
Livemonarch.com sells butterfly net cages but they are pricey considering what they are made of. Every other company that sells butterfly net cages are the same price or more expensive. Most "science class" companies are expensive.

I am going to start producing the same exact net cages for myself, and eventually begin bringing them on the market.

I'm assuming you don't have any insect deli cup lids for your deli cups? Instead of poking a ton of tiny holes (since anything bigger than a needle/thumb tack hole would be big enough for a fruit fly to crawl out of) cut out a nice square out of your plastic lid. Hot glue a couple sheets of paper towel to the INSIDE of the lid. When misting inside the cup, don't let that paper towel get wet. ;) Hope this helps.

 
We use, almost exclusively for both zoo and laboratory use (and sometimes field use!) the stuff from the fabric store that they sell for making veils.

Window screen is preferred for larger species that don't need anything so small.

Keep in mind that the tighter the netting, the larger the "window" needs to be to get the same amount of ventilation.

Crickets and others can chew through the veil mesh.

To top canning jars I often use filter paper (because it's laying around the lab anyway).

You could use coffee filters. They will last longer than paper towels. But again, it is a very tight mesh and does not breath well.

 
Ditto Peter and Brian. Coffee filters are great, and even something like an old t-shirt will do in a pinch.

If you're already ordering from mantisplace.com, she has some plastic(?) mesh that I just adore. Really easy to put in place and cut, and hot glue's nicely. For that matter, most of her enclosures are reasonably priced, and ready to go out of the box. Some of the hexagontal ones are perfect for nearly all single mantids.

 
I culture ff's in 32 oz insect cups. The cloth lids for them work great, no mesh needed. Not sure what you mean by plastic lids. If you're referring to the ones with the cloth over the holes you don't need to poke any holes in it.

 
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Oh, all right. Thanks everyone. I guess coffee filters will do for now and I'll go searching for tight mesh at craft stores in the mean time.

 
Deby said:
Oh, all right. Thanks everyone. I guess coffee filters will do for now and I'll go searching for tight mesh at craft stores in the mean time.
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Are you using 32 oz insect cups for your cultures? The lids for those with the cloth are perfect for ff's.

 
Rick said:
Are you using 32 oz insect cups for your cultures? The lids for those with the cloth are perfect for ff's.
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Well, I WAS using a large deli cup. That is, until I found that the entire food supply had gotten moldy. I hadn't gotten a fabric lid on it soon enough, I guess. I had to throw it all out.

 
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Deby said:
Well, I WAS using a large deli cup. That is, until I found that the entire food supply had gotten moldy. I hadn't gotten a fabric lid on it soon enough, I guess. I had to throw it all out.
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The main source for those lids:

http://superiorshippingsupplies.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=17&Itemid=53

I always buy a pack of 500 at a time. With shipping price included, eac lid comes out to $.173 cents each. Most people sell them for over $.25 cents. ;)

 
I can get mold even with the mesh. Better ventilation is good, but not exact proof against mold.

 
Brian, thank you for the tip! But it's all right; I bought some nice tight mesh from Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday and cut holes in the lids, then hot glued the mesh over the hole. It seems to be working perfectly. The fruitflies can't escape and I only spent about $4.00. :)

Peter, how do you keep mold out?

 
Well, I don't, I guess is the issue.

The sticky on FFs says that the maggots will eat the mold. So it is really only a concern if the mold starts early, before the maggots are big enough / numerous enough to get rid of it.

Which means it is important to start with a bunch of adults, to insure many eggs are laid.

I am having more trouble with mold in my house fly medium than I am in the fruit fly medium.

So, I guess my main plan for dealing with mold is two fold;

1: Have a bunch of cultures, so if some go moldy you can lose them (I have 10, but that number is only so high because I baked some accidentally and am trying to make up for the losses)

2: Put up with the mold when it is small and hope the FF maggots will take care of it.

Also, don't add any water if the the medium is drying on the top before you can see maggots. The dry top will help prevent some of the mold until the maggots are getting going.

 
Deby said:
Brian, thank you for the tip! But it's all right; I bought some nice tight mesh from Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday and cut holes in the lids, then hot glued the mesh over the hole. It seems to be working perfectly. The fruitflies can't escape and I only spent about $4.00. :)

Peter, how do you keep mold out?
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Also, on the issue of mold in the melanogaster culture... You are looking for tegosept (methylparaben) or calcium propionate which would be mold inhibitors that you can add into the substrate mix. A very small amount goes a long way.

 
I have all the screen on my site, it is the no see em and a plastic , very flexible screening which is great for the mels. the calcium prop is also here, but not on the site, email me if anyone wants some, will have to ck pricing on my new unfinished site, as I dont keep it in me head :tt2:

 
As far as Paraben, which i use or Ca proprionate which Rebecca gets from a store that sells bread making supplies, I think, go,they work well and a little goes a long way. You can buy a bag of Paraben from Josh's Frogs and use 2tsps for 5 cups of dry material.

Another way, that was used a lot in the days when we used oatmeal was to add boiling water to the mix. If you do this, I would suggest that you add anything else, like casein after the water has cooled (keep it in a well sealed bag!).

 
I use a commercially available medium that I buy from carolina.com. It contains mold inhibitor and I have never had mold isues. I'm not sure what method you're using to culture, but if you want a lot of flies the standard 32 oz deli cups work excellent. Whatever method you're using sounds like more work than it has to be.

 
Well, my newest cultures have been successful. I have a small amount of mold, but tons and tons of fruitfly larvae and they're taking care of it all. I just used mashed potato flakes, boiling water, a teaspoon of honey, a teaspoon of vinegar, and a small apple slice in each container. I used full mesh lids and put coffee filters in the conatiners. Everything seems like it's going to work out.

 

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