Description
These are a normal or wild type variety with fully developed wings. They can fly. The pupae are shipped on flour, in a cloth bag wrapped in absorbent paper toweling. This packaging is designed to absorb moisture excreted by the pupae, so the the pupae should be dry and nearly odorless.
Use
As a general rule, foraging animals prefer maggots or pupae, while ambush predators and web weavers tend to prefer adult flies, though there are exceptions. For instance, cobweb weavers may prefer crawling maggots.
Storage
Fruit fly pupae should not be stored in the cold, though you can delay hatch for a few days by keeping them in a cool room. It is best to allow them the pupae to eclose (hatch) in a cage with food and water and use them as needed. Adult flies can live for more than a month.
The pupae may simply be allowed to eclose (hatch) in the cage with your animals or the adult flies may be fed and allowed to fatten up a bit first before they are used. Of course, you can also use the pupae to start your own culture of flies and have a ready source of fresh maggots, pupae and adults as needed.
Feeding
In nature, fruit fly larvae and adult feed on fermenting or rotting fruit and other plant materials. Bananas, sprinkled or mashed with with yeast, are commonly used, in addition to many other types of media. You can use commercially available fruit fly diets or standard formulae. However, we tend to get better results by feeding them with a more nutritious diet composed of dog food, sugar and active yeast. Numerous formulae are available online or take a look at our instructions.
Nutrition
The diet of the flies can have a significant effect on the development and health of the animals that using the flies to feed. We do not recommend the use of conventional media for raising feeder insects. Animals raised on conventional media may have slow growth, higher mortality and more cannibalism. Our base formula, which includes sugar, dog food and yeast, tends to result in better development and vitality and may be supplemented with additional nutrients as necessary.
Fruit flies undergo complete metamorphosis, which means that the juvenile very different than the adult. The flies lay eggs, which will hatch as a very, almost microscopically small, worm-like maggot within 24 hours when warm. The hatchlings are called the 1st instars and the maggots will molt, shedding skins twice as they grow and go through 2nd and 3rd instars before pupation. The cuticle (skin) of fully grown maggots will harden and become a stiff case or puparium about 4 days after hatch.
Links
Biology
- Drosophila melanogaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- An introduction to Drosophila melanogaster (University of Arizona)
- FlyBase @ flybase.bio.indiana.edu
- The Interactive Fly
Commercial sources for fly breeding kits, flightless flies and other species or strains
- Berkshire Biological Carolina Biological Supply
- Flyculture.com (for hobbyists)
- VWR Ward's Natural Science Establishment
Sources of special strains and species for research