How to make a fruit fly culture.

You will need a pint pot ready breck, pure fruit juice, cotton wool, piece of fine net for a top *remember how small these flies are lol* with a small hole in, a piece of sponge to bung the hole back up with and an elastic band.

Mix ready breck and fruit juice into a wallpaper past consistency plonk a bit of cotton wool on the top. *their are many diff. mixes peeps use but i keep it simple not adding any thing else in there it works *


Take care not too much cotton wool so that the flies can get to the mix. Tie the net lid on with the elastic band take the bung out and add the fruit flies. they will start to lay eggs with in a week so leave them for a week then start using up the flies *feed them to your mantids*/ transfer them to a new pot to start the second culture.
once empty of flies, i open the culture check for mites this is the time to get rid of them. To do this add more pure juice mites don't do to well in wet conditions.
You will notice the maggots have wiggled through the cotton wool. Took a video of the mega mass of maggots this mix breeds...


Add more cotton wool and in no time at all the maggots will caster up like this..

put the lid back on they will hatch within a week or so.
feel free to add your mixes and your results

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MantidsHymenopus coronatus First gen. IGM 8Harpagomantis TricolorChloroharpax Modesta IGM 66Pseudoherfax Virescens IGM 30Creobroter Gemmatus IGM 12Rhombodera sp IGM 119Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii First gen. IGM 49 Phyllocrania paradoxa IGM 10Alalomantis Coxalis First gen IGM 164Phyllovates chlorophaea IGM 96Miomantis sp First gen.Phasmomantis sumichrasti IGM 149Hierodula salomonis IGM 142Cilnia humeralis IGM 169Gonastista griseaPseudovates arizonae IGM 178[option]

wow nice post
ive got a few more questions. can you use wheatabix instead of ready breck?
when you add the cotton wool do you push it down so its all soaked in fruit juice or just put it on top like shown in the picture?
thanks

never tried it with wheat-a-bix lol give it a go see what happens....yeah the cotton wool just sits on the top more for the files to perch on untill the maggots caster

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MantidsHymenopus coronatus First gen. IGM 8Harpagomantis TricolorChloroharpax Modesta IGM 66Pseudoherfax Virescens IGM 30Creobroter Gemmatus IGM 12Rhombodera sp IGM 119Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii First gen. IGM 49 Phyllocrania paradoxa IGM 10Alalomantis Coxalis First gen IGM 164Phyllovates chlorophaea IGM 96Miomantis sp First gen.Phasmomantis sumichrasti IGM 149Hierodula salomonis IGM 142Cilnia humeralis IGM 169Gonastista griseaPseudovates arizonae IGM 178[option]

Have used Lynne's tecnique and have never had soo many flies in a culture!

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Reptiles1.0 Vittikins Dragon1.0 Leopard GeckoYellow Bellied Slider Turtle Mantis H. Mem OthersDwarf Lop Rabbit

Ive made one too, ill let you know the results, so how wiffy does readybrek get,,

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My Pets Dart Frogs0.1 Mexican Red Knee0.0.1 Versi Avic0.0.4 GBBVarious mantids1.0.0 Lab x Springer0.1.0 Moggy0.1.0 Senegal parrot

Hardly any smell, unless u stick your nose right in lol A lil cheesy but not much

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MantidsHymenopus coronatus First gen. IGM 8Harpagomantis TricolorChloroharpax Modesta IGM 66Pseudoherfax Virescens IGM 30Creobroter Gemmatus IGM 12Rhombodera sp IGM 119Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii First gen. IGM 49 Phyllocrania paradoxa IGM 10Alalomantis Coxalis First gen IGM 164Phyllovates chlorophaea IGM 96Miomantis sp First gen.Phasmomantis sumichrasti IGM 149Hierodula salomonis IGM 142Cilnia humeralis IGM 169Gonastista griseaPseudovates arizonae IGM 178[option]

I've done a few cultures with equal parts weetabix, porridge oats, instant mash, alittle honey, all mixed together to a sloppy paste with water and a few grains of yeast on top.
So far the results have been excellent, my best homemade culture so far, and no sign of mites.

what do you put on the top? for the maggots to caster up on.

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MantidsHymenopus coronatus First gen. IGM 8Harpagomantis TricolorChloroharpax Modesta IGM 66Pseudoherfax Virescens IGM 30Creobroter Gemmatus IGM 12Rhombodera sp IGM 119Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii First gen. IGM 49 Phyllocrania paradoxa IGM 10Alalomantis Coxalis First gen IGM 164Phyllovates chlorophaea IGM 96Miomantis sp First gen.Phasmomantis sumichrasti IGM 149Hierodula salomonis IGM 142Cilnia humeralis IGM 169Gonastista griseaPseudovates arizonae IGM 178[option]

Raffia

Thanks for that but what kind of depth of mix do you put into the pot. Also how many -roughly- flies do you add to the culture?Your culture produces more maggots and casters than mine, a hell of a lot more.