The starter culture of the wingless fruit flies can be obtained at live food vendors, often enough these companies also sell a suitable medium to go with it. Wingless means that this species has no wings at all, while flightless flies grow wings that are too large to fly with. Make sure to get the wingless kind.
Under certain conditions, the wingless fly can grow wings, this can occur when the temperature gets to high, so keep them cool (70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit/ 20 – 24 degrees Celsius).
As a medium old half-rotten fruit will do the trick, either as is or mixed with some oats. Fruit is the best medium, but alternatively, mashed potato mix with sugar can be used (1 cup mashed potatoes and a teaspoon of sugar). Adding some yeast will enhance the fermentation process and create an optimum environment.
The medium should be about ½ inch in height, using a plastic container or a jar and should have a consistency of yogurt.
In order to keep the medium moist and other critters out, the top should be sealed with a mesh bag liner or a lid with little air holes.
First harvest time arrives after 2 weeks. The culture should be productive for 2-3 months. To start a new culture place some of the flies in fresh medium in which they will start laying eggs.
The best harvesting success can be achieved placing a jar upside down on top of the cultivation jar. A light source on top keeps the flies migrating to the empty jar ready to be fed to your fish.
The wingless fruit fly can be used in both, fresh and saltwater environments and are best suited for medium to large fish.
Fruit flies have a live span of about 1.5 weeks and are therefore preferably used by biologists to research genetics. The wingless fruit fly is basically a mutation of the common fruit fly.
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