# flightless fruit flies flying ? did i create a monster?



## 781frogger (Aug 26, 2014)

I have been into darts for over a year now, and at my new place i keep the flies in the basement. suddenly there are a bunch of fruit flies flying in my basement, they seem to walk around a lot more than normal fruit flies. 

did i somehow create a mix breed fruit fly thats somehow surviving in the basement? There isnt really anything down there for them to eat, so im wondering where they might be breeding? hopefully not septic or something

its crazy they are so hard to breed in culture sometimes, due to mites... but somehow they are breeding naturally now? i never would have imagined they could escape and survive? or maybe they were breeding through the lids with flying ones?

ugh shaking my head at myself.. is this normal? any suggestions?


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

What kind of FF do you keep for the frogs? Wingless, flightless, hydei, etc.?

Do you notice any flyers coming off your cultures, or do you think they are breeding/thriving exclusively outside? 

Do you see flyers inside your tank(s)?


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## 781frogger (Aug 26, 2014)

my tank is upstairs, there may have been some gnats in it but i think thats a separate issue

i keep flightless melanogaster , one of my cultures a few weeks back started to produce flying flies inside of it, so i put it in a bag and got rid of it. i only have one culture left and it has flightless in it. there have been a couple flies that may have landed on the cultures before, reading on it now, it seems they can breed through lids? maybe thats what started this

it hasnt become TOO bad, but i have killed a couple dozen+ walker/fliers , i just dont want to create some sort of FF problem . im hoping they disappear


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

Flightless CAN revert to flying under certain conditions such as high temperatures.


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## Alan (Jan 12, 2005)

They can breed with wild FF through most vented lids.

Make several FF traps now. You need to catch 100% of your wild flyers ASAP.

Check seed cultures for flyers before using them to propagate.


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## 781frogger (Aug 26, 2014)

some of them are up in my garage i think now, does the whole house need to be sprayed or will they die off in the cold new england winter? what a pain

this must have happened to other people at some point


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Do they crawl rather fast? Faster than your flightless flies? You may be seeing fungus gnats.


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## Alan (Jan 12, 2005)

781frogger said:


> some of them are up in my garage i think now, does the whole house need to be sprayed or will they die off in the cold new england winter? what a pain
> 
> this must have happened to other people at some point



Did you make FF traps?


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## 781frogger (Aug 26, 2014)

they were walking more than flying, but definitely fruit flies. i sprayed around , hopefully they will go away with time


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## Coqui (Jan 17, 2013)

Just read your post and started laughing. Let me explain, my daughter text me this afternoon to ask me what did I do differently with my disgusting fruit fly cultures because according to her there are hundreds everywhere in the house. 
I'm smiling because last night when I fed my frogs, as soon as I open the container I had flyers. I did not think so many escape I was wrong. I have cups of beer all over the house now. Here's a pic she left me.


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## amilbs (Oct 16, 2015)

How often do you guys have fruit flies get loose? I've been starting a viv and am debating between putting reed frogs or darts in it. Mostly due to the fact that i might have to start culturing FFs and not sure how that might go over with my room mates because we've had fruit flies before and they aren't a blast haha. Just wanting some tips! Is it even plausible to just buy cultures regularly instead of culturing if i have healthy colonies of spring tails and isos in my viv?


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