HELP!?!? Fruit Fly larvae ?

[danisparx]

First things first, im just starting to learn how to culture my flies specificaly Drosophilia melanogaster, i ordered two culture packs of dartfrog both have started hatching fine but one has some realy tiny little clear wriggly things on the side of the container??? Are these normal or is it something else??????

[RanaVenenosa]

What your describing sounds like the FF maggot. The FF emerge from eggs as maggots, then metamorphosis occurs while they are in their little cocoon, after they emerge into flys.

[danisparx]

ive got maggots but these are way smaller???

[Philsuma]

They are indeed Fruit Fly larvae / maggots. They start off as really tiny "worms"....then they eat and eat and grow. You will almost always see a lot of different size maggots - some big and some small, at the same time.

[danisparx]

nope i think they were mites, i got lil tiny round bugs wandering all over the cultures now

[Philsuma]

yeah...you initially described them as "wriggly" so we thought larvae / maggots......mites are small and very round shaped. Tend to cluster and move around in little circles.

Do you have a magnifying glass ?

[danisparx]

nope y?
theres loads of them in my new cultures, i have shedloads of lave for the flies in there but somehow there all escaping too?????? this is proving a lil harder than i first thought HELP pls??!?!?!?!?

[Philsuma]

Try to get some pics of your culture....too hard to try to guess what you got going on. Pics would be a big help.

[danisparx]

here's some i hope they help?

[Philsuma]

Excellent pics... think I can help here.

#1 - Your larvae are climbing / trying to escape because your culture container is too tightly sealed and they are trying to get more oxygen and get out of the extreme wetness at the bottom of the cup. You need more ventilation in the lid. Try to poke a few really tiny holes for the time being.

I stil do not see mites. FF larvae have a black coloured mouth that's always scraping and moving when they eat, which is almost all the time, and that's often mistaken for something else.

Your media (FF food) looks odd. Is it homemade or bought from a dart frog vendor ? What's in it exactly ? It looks like it may be too wet.

[Philsuma]

Looks like you may be using a container not meant for FF culturing....

Here's a ventilated lid and 32oz "deli" cup that is the standard here in the U.S for culturing Fruit Flies...



Here's a good website with pictures...

http://shop.southeasternff.com/Complete ... k-0036.htm

Click on the picture and keep clicking to zoom in.....you'll see the fabric-coated lid with the little ventilation breathers (round spots) to allow the culture to get air...

[danisparx]

holes done, there are tiny little specs running around there the same kind of colour as the lave
the media was from dart frog it came as part of there advanced culture kit not sure of its content but it was mixed as per there recomendations i thought it was r dry if im honest the moisture is from where there kept in a seperate viv with water in the bottom to try to stop the flies escaping im gonna remove the water now tho
the pots im using also came with the kit???? plus i ordered extra?

[Philsuma]

Don't store FF cultures in enclosed settings where they can't get proper air- especially in or near water.

I think once you have proper ventilation in the lids...things will go a lot better for you. Does the Dart Frog store actually sell airtight FF culture containers ??? Not good.

[danisparx]

no they have a 1.5" hole in the top with a "wonderweb" type fabric over the hole? but the lave and mites escape this??
the viv is very well ventilated and the water is now removed,

[Philsuma]

The "Fabric" type ventilation should be way too tight for even a tiny mite to get through....that's what they make those particular ventilated lids for, anti-mite.

A "Vivarium" is the term we use to describe where the animals live. Are you placing the culture directly inside the enclosure with the frogs ?

What species and how many frogs are we talking about here ?

[danisparx]

i have many vivs and i was using a seperate temperature controled 18x18x24 exoterra which im using JUST for the ff cultures primarily due to my better halfs problem with bugs, i think from what you have said i need a better uk supplier of culture pots

[EntoCraig]

That is the strangest FF culture I have ever seen. Have we determined what the media is? It might be attracting mites like crazy...

[Philsuma]

kinda looks like corn flakes or some other large sized food stuff...

You want as finely a powdered substance as possible. The larvae with their tiny mouth parts and small digestive system do best on very finely powdered media. I even run my media thru a food processor / blender, to get it as fine as possible.

That said...it does look like he has decent larvae production from that one pic, though....

[danisparx]

they dont specify on there site what the content is just
Fruit fly (Drosophila) Media
An excellent ingrediant in fruit fly culturing. Contains all the relevant minerals, multivitamins and amino acids that will be passed on to your amphibians. Simply mix with water. Low odour, long life and highly recommended.
??????
ill be blending it up a bit more next time round, i do have in (my opinion) reasonable larvae production but im not 100% on what i should be expecting?

[Philsuma]

Yes, your pic showed good production. I'm sure that store sells excellent FF culturing materials. All the other U.K members speak very highly of it.

Remember....FF media (food) can vary greatly and STILL produce good amounts of flies. There are always different recipes, different ingredients and tips and tweaks. This is not an exact science for our hobby. Other factors that play a large roll in fly production are:

1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Time of year / seasonal variables
4. Quality of liquid - water ingredient or equivalent