[auban]

would anybody be interested in them? i managed to produce a culture a long time ago, but didn't realize that it could have been useful. i ended up tossing them out. i was 13 and thought that it would have been a common thing.

for the past few years i have been looking for more online, but the best i can find are sterilized flies that cost way too much to justify buying them as a food item. i cultured mine on dog food, and though the smell wasn't pleasant, i wasn't able to smell the culture unless i was actively putting my hands in it. i eventually figured out how to reduce the smell considerably, but i lost interest and let the culture die out. im wondering now if i shouldn't try again to produce a similar strain.

what do you all think? would it be worth it? i have often wondered why there aren't any flightless houseflies around. flightless fruit flies are everywhere...

 

[dprais1]

If I still kept lizard I would be all over flightless houseflys, fruitflies are to small to bother with for most species and having them escape is what eliminates them from the menu.

I have never seen flightless houseflies for sale

 

[TheDrake]

They are available, check Google. I cultured them back in the mid 90s. They never quite bred true, with maybe 10% of the offspring being flighted! My herps loved them though. In terms of smell, Purina used to make 'fly larva medium 5060' - believe it or not! The smell was not great, but really not bad, better than other media I've seen. Reminded me of silage, if you know that smell. Years later I worked for an IPM operation that bred (flighted) houseflies to infect with parasitic wasps; they had a decent DIY medium recipe, but I had to sign a non-disclosure statement there so I can't really talk about it, lol. I'm sure Google can come up with some ideas.

 

[auban]

i wouldn't have a problem culturing them, but i am still not even able to find them online...

besides, i don't really want a fly that doesn't breed true. the one i used to have bred true, so that is what i would want to produce again. i just had to set up a special tub for them because the flies couldn't climb when it was time for them to lay their eggs...

where are you finding them? google only reveals to me the sterilized ones.

 

[TheDrake]

Sorry, I didn't realize that the ones at AZDR were sterilize, I just thought they meant they would not breed in the container they send, as FF will do (NB: this site http://geckoforums.net/f75-food-feeders-supplements/43430.htm suggests they aren't really sterile, just less fecund). That changes things a bit then. If you think you can re-derive them, I bet there would be a demand, especially if you sold stock that customers could culture for themselves. I'm having fond memories of harvesting them with a dustbuster, which I would then stick in the fridge for a few minutes to slow them down. Ah, my wife is an angel.

 

[WestHaven]

I saw them for sale at Petco in the reptile section. I don't know if they would be sterilized or not.

 

[auban]

I saw them for sale at Petco in the reptile section. I don't know if they would be sterilized or not.

what was the species? i am quite certain that you saw fruitflies, not houseflies...