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Fruit Flies

I wanted to start culturing them to feed to my CPs, especially the seedlings. Does anybody know which variety is easier? D. hydei or D. melanogaster ?

Thanks!

SF
 
D. melanogaster is easier. One of the main reasons it is used as a model system is because it can be raised on nothing more than mashed bananas (and cue music... "Thirty thousand pounds of mashed bananas....") An important factor when they started working on them way back at the turn of the century.
 
Thanks! I was just about to go with the Hydei, too! Melangastor it is!

SF
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Pyro @ Feb. 25 2004,11:20)]D. melanogaster is easier. One of the main reasons it is used as a model system is because it can be raised on nothing more than mashed bananas (and cue music... "Thirty thousand pounds of mashed bananas....") An important factor when they started working on them way back at the turn of the century.

Not really... Hydei is definately easyer, IME, and the flies are much larger. Drosophylla melenogaster can not be raised cheifly on mashed bannanas, the cultures will brown and mold within 5 days. Every fruit fly culture needs some bakers yeast, this is what the flies eat. the maggots also can't have just bannanas, they would surely drown in something so liquidy (you would have to use vinegar to keep out mold) Although you will get more flies per culture with melanogaster, hydei makes up for it with its size. you can find some good information on culturing fruit flies on www.doylesdartden.com . A good mixture I have been using is:

1 cup apple sauce
2 mushed up bannanas
1 tsp vinegar
2 cups instant oatmeal

this makes about4 cultures, the oatmeal makes it a bit expensive, but the fly yeild is very high!

Also, I am experimenting with:

1 tsp powdered agar agar.
1 tbsp molasses
1 cup water
2 tsp cornmeal

This makes 2 cultures, but it is quite expensive

good luck,
-spectabilis
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I like hydei, they are twice the size of melanogaster, and easier to catch (because of their size) with tweezers. The plants or whatever, will get a bigger more satisfying meal
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Spec, generally speaking D. melanogaster are more prolific and less demanding as far as culture medium. The cultures don't actually need bakers yeast as they do just fine on the natural yeast found in/on the fruit. I raised flies for years without using any additional yeast, just apple sauce, potatoe flakes, and vineger. More complicated recipes do of course increase production.

And for seedlings D. melanogaster are much easier to squeeze in. They also have a much harder time walking off of a Drosera.
 
I would also recommend D. Melogaster. Their smaller size are perfect for some seedlings. I'm even some of my newly sprouted gemmae. Also, their speed is so much faster as in setting new cultures. It takes a shorter cycle so it may be simple.

People even make their fruit fly media from just potatoe flake and some water and vinegar. As long as there is a source for where the larve will be and not infected by mold those situation are perfect for new breeding ground.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (joseph @ Feb. 25 2004,15:04)]Spec, generally speaking D. melanogaster are more prolific and less demanding as far as culture medium.  The cultures don't actually need bakers yeast as they do just fine on the natural yeast found in/on the fruit.  I raised flies for years without using any additional yeast, just apple sauce, potatoe flakes, and vineger.  More complicated recipes do of course increase production.

And for seedlings D. melanogaster are much easier to squeeze in.  They also have a much harder time walking off of a Drosera.

If you want quantity more than size, do the melanogaster. hydei's can be pigs, but i like the larger flies. (and so will my dart frogs! (; the thumbnails might need the melans though...)
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I have a secret to get more hydei. Add a bit of brewers yeast. Also, you probably know this, but you mix old and new flies of hydei, since the males tend to take 5-10 days longer to pupate than the females. Your fly production will increase if you do this. Seedling cps can take a hydei. maybe nepenthes can't, but most others can
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Also, I find it easyer to feed pupae to seedling drosera, they are much juicyer
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as for pygmy drosera, melogaster works better...
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I do agree you can use simple media, but you tend to get scrawnyer flies when doing so...

EDIT: darn dkim, you beat me! lol
 
Never had to worry about coaxing fruit flies. Wife buys fruit. Kids eat fruit. Fruit flies magically appear.
 
  • #10
Those are the ones that can fly though. You DO NOT want to culture them!!!! D. melanogaster and hydei are flightless. I think I'm going to go with D. melanogaster, as they reproduce faster and would fit in a Sarr seedling better.

SF
 
  • #11
We raise insects to kill them. What a great forum this is!
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  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Spectabilis73 @ Feb. 25 2004,09:30)]Not really... Hydei is definately easyer, IME, and the flies are much larger. Drosophylla melenogaster can not be raised cheifly on mashed bannanas, the cultures will brown and mold within 5 days. Every fruit fly culture needs some bakers yeast, this is what the flies eat.
Spec, I would be happy to provide you with references to the literature on the beginning of fruit fly genetics. The original stocks of D.melanogaster were trapped on the warfs where they dumped the rotten bananas after shipping. Since the bananas were worthless and just being dumped the father of fruit fly genetics would make a weekly run to the docks to scrape up some more fed for his flies. He never suplimented and almost all melanogaster stocks in use today date back to his first captured population. I thihnk that would argue for melanogaster being a more robust species
 
  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SnowyFalcon @ Feb. 26 2004,02:40)]Those are the ones that can fly though.  You DO NOT want to culture them!!!!  D. melanogaster and hydei are flightless.  I think I'm going to go with D. melanogaster, as they reproduce faster and would fit in a Sarr seedling better.
Actually wild type melanogaster do fly and the ones that seem to pop out of nowhere in produce are melanogaster. The flightless strains you reciev are actually mutants and if you are really bored you could actually breed them in such a way to get flying ones back again.
 
  • #14
Fruit flys are good food for reptiles and frogs too... I might look into this...

potatoe flakes... im assuming your not talking about patato chips.
where can you find potatoe flakes??
 
  • #15
Sn,
like pyro said, there is a flightless form of melanogaster... if you want to get flying ones, just mix the wingless form with the winged form (winged form that cannot fly) and you will get flies with the ability to fly.

Finch,
by potatoe flakes we mean instant potatoes, its kinda like a powder, and when you add water it becomes mashed potatoes. just add water and gravy
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Yum!
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Pyro,
I would like some references to fruit fly genetics.
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  • #16
Cool. So where can i find potato flakes
 
  • #17
The grocery store.
 
  • #18
never seen'em there
 
  • #19
Would potato buds work as well as potato flakes?

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BCK
 
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