fruit flies keep killing my hornworm pupa!

[Raphael1047]

Fruit flies are getting everywhere! I see them in my roach bins, the maggots of the fruit flies are eating my hornworm pupa and the are just flying around my room. i had 35 hornworms pupating, but only 12 survived. i moved the 12 pupas out of the dirt to paper towels and the maggots are still there. i need a way to get rid of them. if you have a way to get rid of fruit flies please reply. thank you.

 

[biffle]

Keep the bins super clean and remove uneaten food daily. Sticky fly traps work ok for the adults.

Jason

 

[kinyonga]

Are you sure it's fruit fly maggots not phorid fly maggots?

 

[Raphael1047]

Are you sure it's fruit fly maggots not phorid fly maggots?

you know your bugs, i think they are phorid maggots. they fit the description i looked up. how do i get rid of them? same are Fruit flies? i have been researching and found a vinegar in a cup technique for fruit flies. hope it works.

 

[kinyonga]

I don't know how to kill the maggots that are already in/on the eggs without harming the eggs unfortunately.

In the future all I can suggest is taping a piece of very very fine screen over the egg incubation containers so that the toes is sealed against the sides of the container so that the phorid flies can't get in. They can get in the tiniest spaces...even a jar lid with a screw on top sometimes.

You can kill the phorid flies by depriving them of food or (this may sound silly but it works) by putting some frozen corn in a dish of water so that the water covers the corn completely. (I expect other veggies with,let work...but the corn definitely attracts them so I've never tried anything else.) the phorid flies drown in the water.

 

[kinyonga]

I meant tape...not toes is sealed. . Oops!
One thing to mention though...if you do this you will have to remove it and re-do it every time you want to take the lid off he container to check the eggs.