Flightless Fruit Fly Culture Care and Management

CULTURE SERVICE LIFE - DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER (SMALLER, BROWN)

Drosophila melanogaster cultures take 12-15 days for new flies to hatch (for culture to 'bloom'). Of course, not all eggs were produced at the same time, so expect a distribution of hatches. Depending on level of care and management, a culture can last anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.

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CULTURE SERVICE LIFE - ​DROSOPHILA HYDEI (LARGER, BLACK OR GOLDEN)

Drosophila hydei cultures take 21-25 days for new flies to hatch (for culture to 'bloom'). Of course, not all eggs were produced at the same time, so expect a distribution of hatches. Depending on level of care and management, a culture can last anywhere from 5 weeks to 2 months.

 

This is an excellent site describing ff care and life cycle in detail. If you're states-side, grab cultures and/or media kits from them. ;)

https://www.neherpetoculture.com/flycaresheet

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CULTURE MANAGEMENT

• Always plan on using  no more than half the population (of a fresh culture) in the first 4 days. This ensures enough reproduction to sustain the culture.

• Do not let cultures dry out. Shipped cultures are often mixed a little dryer so they stay in one piece during shipping. Swirl in a teaspoon of water at a time as required. I don't recommend spraying cultures, as the water doesn't usually make it down into the media. Tip: better dryer than wetter, so proceed with care.

• Once a culture blooms, consider what your needs really are. A full producing or 'popping' culture consumes remaining media very quickly, leading to its collapse. If you're feeding just a few young nymphs or spiderlings, you're better off purging off excess flies, leaving only what you really need.

• Purging just means getting them out of your culture. This is when you seed new cultures, or use purged flies to surface feed small fish in aquariums, etc.

• I can often extend the life of a culture by adding a little media. I simply move excelsior to one side, and drop a dollop of prepared media.

• Always be aware of the possibility of mites. Maintain a strong breeding number so you have lots of larvae to consume mite eggs and any mould that builds up.

• I keep several cultures in  plastic tray. I in turn set each tray inside a larger tray (cat litter tray) dusted with diatomaceous earth. This prevents any grain mites in the house (and every house has them, sorry to say LOL) to migrate to the cultures in search of food and moisture. I don't set the cultures into the diatomaceous earth because that gets messy, and you don't want that stuff everywhere (it will kill your mantis nymphs and spiderlings).