Feeder Insects: Fruit Flies
It is impossible to provide your insects with all the fruit flys they need without buying them. I buy fruit flies either from my local pet store or from Josh’s Frogs. The latter’s flies are slightly bigger than my pet store’s so I usually buy them for slightly larger mantises. Be sure to only buy flightless fruit flies so you end up with less escapees.
Once you have bought your flies you may want to split the culture into two or three smaller groups to allow the flies more room to hatch young. In the long run this will give you more flies for you praying mantises.
Once you have bought your flies you may want to split the culture into two or three smaller groups to allow the flies more room to hatch young. In the long run this will give you more flies for you praying mantises.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Culture from Scratch
- Freeze the flies for about 15-20 minutes, (this is only for Josh’s Frogs’ fruit flies, if you are using flies from a local pet store, only freeze them for 10-12 minutes).
- While you are freezing the flies, heat up one cup of media with 1/2 or 3/4 of a cup of water in the microwave for one to two minutes or until steaming.
- Pour the media mixture into a 32oz deli cup and push the media down into the bottom of the container using a spatula—make sure there is hardly any or no media up on the sides of the container.
- Put the media into the freezer to cool for about seven to ten minutes.
- Ball up the excelsior—which is straw material—into a 3x3 inch circle and drop it into the now cool media container.
- Take your flies out and tap them into the new culture.
Fruit Fly Culture Care
Caring for your new cultures is relatively simple. You need to do is to keep it out of direct sunlight, otherwise water puddles on the media and your flies may begin to drown and keep it moist by lightly misting if the media is cracked and dry. To determine if it is moist, lay the culture on its side to see if the media starts to move to rest on the container’s side it is laying on.
The culture should not be much colder than 65, nor much warmer than 90 degrees.
If you are doing a good job caring for the flies, they will start to breed and lay their eggs. Two weeks later the eggs will hatch. You will see worm-like creatures digging around in the media.
The culture should not be much colder than 65, nor much warmer than 90 degrees.
If you are doing a good job caring for the flies, they will start to breed and lay their eggs. Two weeks later the eggs will hatch. You will see worm-like creatures digging around in the media.
EEK! Mites!
Around the time the new fruit fly larvae mature, grain mites will possibly begin to arrive and thrive in the culture as well. This will look like small bugs climbing inside and on the lid of your fly culture.
If this is the case, dump the flies and—if possible—most of the larvae into a clean, fresh container (WITHOUT ANY MEDIA). Dump a bit of bug blade—which is sold at Josh’s Frogs--into the container with your flies. Swirl it gently over the flies until you are sure that it has touched all the flies. Doing this will kill off the mites for a while. After about two or three more weeks, you will be forced to repeat the process.
Your clean flies cannot go back into their old mite-infested culture. Create a new culture using the instructions above and throw out the old one (larvae and all).
If this is the case, dump the flies and—if possible—most of the larvae into a clean, fresh container (WITHOUT ANY MEDIA). Dump a bit of bug blade—which is sold at Josh’s Frogs--into the container with your flies. Swirl it gently over the flies until you are sure that it has touched all the flies. Doing this will kill off the mites for a while. After about two or three more weeks, you will be forced to repeat the process.
Your clean flies cannot go back into their old mite-infested culture. Create a new culture using the instructions above and throw out the old one (larvae and all).