Fruit flies part 2: Fruitfly food

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

Flightless Fruit Flies, Turkish Glider 1 week old

Richmond Hill, New York, 114**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

$9

Drosophila Melanogaster Flightless Turkish Gliders ?? Live Fruit Fly Culture
This listing is for a live culture of Drosophila Melanogaster (Flightless Turkish Gliders) that is 1 to 2 weeks old, already showing plenty of maggots and very close to hatching. By the time your order arrives, the culture may already be in full production, ensuring a steady food source for your pets
Why We Don??t Sell Freshly Started Cultures
Shipping conditions are unpredictable??packages can be tilted or ... more

Flightless Fruit Flies (newly started 24oz Drosophila hydei culture)

New York, 100**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

$18

This listing is for one 24oz container of flightless fruit flies (Drosophila hydei) complete with media and flies!
Just like wingless D. melanogaster, flightless D. hydei fruit flies are ideal feeder insects for small or young animals. They are about twice as large as D. melanogaster. Unlike crickets or other typical feeder insects, fruit flies cannot bite or harm your pet. They are easy to maintain and reproduce quickly (D. hydei reproduce slower than D. melanogaster). The life cycle of D. ... more

Flightless Fruit Fly - Drosophila Melanogaster Culture - Super Loaded Colony

Aptos, California, 950**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

$23

Drosophila Melanogaster
This listing is for Flightless Fruit Fly - Drosophila Melanogaster Culture - Super Loaded Colony
These Cultures will be loaded with flies and fresh made within a day of shipping. Spend less time waiting for them to breed, feed them off right away, leave at least half remaining and you will have thousands of more flies in about a week!
These fruit flies serve as a good food source to small animals such as young spiders and scorpions small reptiles and other ... more

Sticky Fruit Fly Traps, Yellow Gnat Killer Trap use for Indoor Outdoor, 18 pcs

State College, Pennsylvania, 168**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

$10

Sticky Fruit Fly Traps, Yellow Gnat Killer Trap use for Indoor Outdoor, 18 pcs.

Actual picture of my sticky trap after one day conquering a gnat infestation
... more

Flightless Melanogaster fruit fly culture. Free shipping. Freshly seeded!

Indianapolis, Indiana, 462**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

$20

Flightless Melanogaster fruit fly culture. Free shipping.
Freshly seeded single 32oz culture. Condition is New. Shipped with USPS Priority Mail. Feed ready in 7-10 days from date listed on the culture

"Revolutionize your pet's nutrition with our premium single 32oz producing fruit fly culture! Elevate their diet with a powerhouse of protein-packed goodness that's not only delicious but also nutrient-rich
Experience the convenience of a constant supply of ... more