What is the best fruit fly food?
Fruit flies are not fussy. In fact you will probably find them living on all sorts of things - old fruit, cereals, bread etc. When organic matter ferments, they are never far away. However, when we culture flies we need to be provide food for both adults and larvae, and it has to be a food, or media, that is long lasting, and of a suitable consistency to remain in place when the fly containers are inverted. The adults eat yeasts at the surface, whilst the larvae bury down into the media.
I use the Sussex mix, but have included two commonly used, and much simpler recipes. The Sussex mix is a bit of a chore to make up, but it's use solves all of the problems of 'quick' recipes, and is by far the best choice if large numbers of flies are needed.
Drosophila media recipes
- Banana - Bunch of bananas, 1/2 cup sugar, packet of oats, 1 packet bakers yeast. Blend it all together! Mold inhibitors if available.
- Potato - 1 part bakers yeast to 10 parts mash potato mix. Add hot water! Mold inhibitors if available.
- Sussex Mix - Add 100g maize meal to 95g sugar (or molasses), 6g agar, 19g bakers yeast to 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil stirring from time to time. This mix must boil for several minutes to activate the agar. Leave to cool for a while and then stir in 2g Nipagin (methylparaben) or perhaps try tegosept or calcium propionate (mold inhibitor used in bread) and any vitamins (I use dog multivitamins). As it cools, it sets into a gel-like solid. The media can be stored either in small vials that you will keep the flies in, or in a larger container that the media can be decanted from.
Fruit fly food recipe: ingredients for Sussex mix
The mix is mainly water, and needs agar to solidify it
Once it has boiled for a few minutes, the mix gets considerably thicker
The media is for the larvae, the adult flies eat yeast sprinkled on top
I strongly recommend the Sussex mix. It is long lasting, solid enough to stay in its vial when tapped upside down, and meets all the nutritional needs of the larvae. It also remains moist for a week or more, and it's life can be prolonged with a drop of water or two.
Other media can feed the flies adequately, but are often insufficiently solid when the vials are inverted to collect flies. They are very often too wet (banana) or too dry (mash potato}. This is much less of a problem for those that keep amphibians, who can place the culture within the animals enclosure. But for fish keepers, the flies must be collected. The Sussex media sets as a semi-rigid gel, which makes handling the flies incredibly easy.
If your chosen media is too wet, adding wood shavings can keep the media in place (to some extent) and provide dry walkways for the emerged flies to climb up onto. This is never required with the Sussex media, but always required with a banana based media.
Whatever recipe you follow, it will feed the larvae, but not the parent flies; all food should be sprinkled with brewers yeast (not the bakers yeast used in the recipes above) immediately before adding the adult flies. Not only does this provide a source of food for the flies, but also ensures the surface is dry, and the delicate flies will not get stuck down in sticky media.
Fruit fly cultures for sale
Killi.co.uk is funded by its visitors. When you buy through links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission. For more info see
terms and conditions.
Etters, Pennsylvania, 173**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$25
The product is a Flightless fruit fly culture kit + 1 additional container of just-add-flies food designed for dart frogs and reptiles. Produced by the brand Crazy Frog Lady, this product provides a convenient and natural way to feed your pets. The fruit flies are a nutritious food source for many reptiles and amphibians, promoting healthy eating habits and reducing the need for processed diets. With this product, you can easily maintain a steady supply of live insects for your pets to enjoy ...
more
Porter, Texas, 773**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$15
Fresh Melanogaster Fruit Fly CultureSize: Melanogaster are small fruit flies, adults are about 3mm long
Each culture is started fresh in a 32 oz vented cup using our high-quality fruit fly media
a nutrient-rich blend designed to support strong fly production and extended culture life
Get the Best Savings with ERAWAN IMPORTS!
At Erawan Imports, we are dedicated to delivering the quality you expect
We pride ourselves on fast delivery and producing quality in quantity ...
more
Dubuque, Iowa, 520**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$8
Although "Turkish Gliders" are a strain of D. melanogaster and are flightless, they are capable of gliding in a downward spiral and inclined to hopping and being more active than regular D. melanogaster making them an enriching activity for your pets!
Looking for an easy and reliable feeder insect for your dart frogs, fish, mantids, or juvenile reptiles? Our Turkish Glider Fruit Fly Cultures are the perfect choice! These small, flightless fruit flies can be easily produced at home ...
more
Etters, Pennsylvania, 173**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$65
Welcome to our listing for a Fruit Fly Culture 8 Pack Variety! This product is perfect for those in need of a live food source for their reptiles and small frogs
This 8 pack includes: 2 Flightless Melanogaster, 2 Turkish Gliders, 2 Golden, and 2 Hydei flies. These fruit flies are perfect for feeding reptiles and small frogs, as they are flightless and will stay in the enclosure for a longer period of time. Our product comes from Crazy Frog Lady L L.C, a trusted brand in the industry
...
more
Dover, Pennsylvania, 173**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$57
6 pack Melongaster Wingless Fruit Flies
Live fruit flies are a great option for feeding small lizards and many species of frogs, especially because of their reproduction cycle. Each culture of flightless fruit flies has a lifespan of about one month, and even after they die, they will continually pupate from eggs laid by the adults in the culture! This will allow you to keep fruit flies for a while, as long as they are taken care of accurately
Regular fruit flies should be ...
more
