Fruit flies

[AmandaS]

Im no fruit fly wizard. Lol. I just buy them from joshs frogs and breed them according to the instructions. Haha

 

[AmandaS]

Ooh...the v is not a single letter. Lol.


Where is everyone else who could be brainstorming with me?? Haha

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Everything but the flies are ready.

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

They've arrived, healthy as University stock can be.

I'm going to give them a few hours to rest before moving them. I shall now introduce them to you.

Contestant one: Drosophila virilis

I have NOT seen this species in widespread distribution in the pet hobby, im unsure if they are larger than hydei, but I thought they were.

Comparison between them and D. Hydei

Just plain D. hydei

The second contestants, Id'd by @AmandaS

Drosophila melanogaster, with a twist, and a strain near and dear to my heart, white eye.

I had to use them for my college days, and I've always liked the white eye.

Now for the main event.

The purpose of these experiments is to see if Drosophila virilis is a viable third candidate for the pet food hobby, at the very least I had thought that they were larger than hydei, and as a result maybe good for larger arboreal reptiles, or animals that are getting too big for the typical fruit fly. We shall see.

Secondly was to see if using different colored fruit flies, and flighted ones no less will illicit a better feeding response from more skittish animal, that refuses to either leave it's hiding spit, nor use a food dish. I'm betting the flies will try to fly towards the light either way.

Another goal is simply enrichment, the different colors and smells may add some spice to the critters. Perhaps they will develop favorites.

One of the potential drawbacks I foresee is inbreeding, I didn't read correctly the wording on the product description, as a result I only got one vial of each. Unfortunately shipping was very expensive and I'm not ready to purchase more.

Final goal, if possible is to breed flightless versions of each.

Well i will keep you posted on the results/progress.

 

[AmandaS]

Drosophila virilis

Had no idea about these

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Had no idea about these

I didnt either, until I saw one compared to other fruit flies, so I searched high and low, to try and find some, only unis have them. Verdict is still out whether they are bigger than hydei tho. They looked huge in the pics lol

Drosophila virilis

Male and female, the males have red testicles

D hydei

Drosophila melanogaster

Everyone is settling in, a few stragglers are still in the vials they arrived in, so they can just chill in their newly vacated shipping tubes with University rations lol.

Since I got less than anticipated I used the two excess cultures to make new my D hydei cultures, so now at least all four of my hydei cultures are now mixed.

 

[AmandaS]

Cool experiment. I like the white eyes too! They're so unique.

the males have red testicles

And what a strange, but interesting detail.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Final goal, if possible is to breed flightless versions of each.

You mean they aren't? Whoa...

the males have red testicles

I knew a guy who had that once... or was it blue?

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

You mean they aren't? Whoa...

I knew a guy who had that once... or was it blue?

You can see for yourself in this pic.

And yes, I'm working with fully flighted animals here.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

You can see for yourself in this pic.

And yes, I'm working with fully flighted animals here.

I didn't doubt it for a second.

I wish you nothing but success in breeding the "fly" out of them! ?

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Well a minor setback, no signs of maggots in the media of the two cultures, I've added more water to the media, and im doing so lost six total due to crushing by accident.

I still have a lit of each fly but the clock is ticking. Hopefully I will see babies in a few days.

The ones still in the vials have quite a few maggots.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Well a minor setback, no signs of maggots in the media of the two cultures, I've added more water to the media, and im doing so lost six total due to crushing by accident.

I still have a lit of each fly but the clock is ticking. Hopefully I will see babies in a few days.

Maybe they're not "in the mood"(?)

The ones still in the vials have quite a few maggots.

Does that tell you anything? IDK—maybe it's a clue?

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Well lots of little maggots in both cultures, most are too small to take pictures of.

Adding the water seems to have helped

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Well my flightless melanogaster have arrived, once their numbers increase, I will start mixing them with the white eyes, I predict normal offspring from the cross for a few generations.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I admire what you're doing, but this morning I caught a video on GM mosquitoes, and a project to release them in FL and TX to reduce the disease hazard of the invasive species.
BRRRRRRR!!! Creeped me right the heck out. ?

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

Well a did a thing that most people who keep fruit flies do at least once..

I put the cultures is the fridge to chill them out, got distracted, and several hours later end up with dead flies. Itasca total loss for now.

However I do have the ground work laid out so hopefully I will be able to try again in the future.

It's been a bad few days.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Could be worse... it could be raining! ?

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... we were into tabletop roleplaying (I would be still if I could find anyone else my age who's still interested... )

Anyhoo, one week, one of the regulars arrived late and haggard, and—unbeknownst to us—put a 2-litre bottle of soda in our freezer to cool down rapidly—and promptly forgot about it. Need I say more?

A period of time later, there was a muffled explosion followed by a hissing noise emanating from the freezer. The mess was epic, biblical in proportion, and the impetus for a new house rule...
NO drinks of any kind in the freezer—EVER—NO EXCEPTIONS!

I can't recount what the Missus did to the offending guest—the Statute of Limitations hasn't run yet...


Sorry to hear about your fruit flies. Dried Fly Bars?

 

[rlschwer]

Hey, I've definitely refrigerated my fruit flies to death, but sometimes eggs/maggots survive! Don't throw the cultures right away, you may get lucky and have some show up in a week or two