# Fruit Fly larvae but no adults?



## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

So after thinking I was a pro after my 1st 2culture attemps, I now have 2 cultures and a lot of larvae and pupae, but very few to no adults...

Cultures were started 12/2 and seemed to be producing. Had an issue with my old cultures smelling bad so I fed from new cultures on 12/9. 

Both cultures have a decent amount of moving larvae seen on the plastic as well as pupae.

Why are there no adults? Temps have been a little lower in the mid to upper 60s during the day and low 60s at night. Could this be the reason?


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Yep that's quote cool.

I made this mistake at first too. Since then my cultures are always at 75 during the day and around 69 in the evening, and pupa hatch out much quicker.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

Based on just random observations, it seems the larva are able to survive a little lower and maybe even a little higher temps than the adult flies and even a little more CO2 than adults. I'd suggest not letting the cultures drop below 66-67 degrees at night. I try to keep my house at 66-68 over night and 72-74 during the day. Occasionally I'll see the adult flies die off, but in my case I think it's due to too much heat (sometimes I'm not paying close attention and I set them down to close to the tank lights).


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize I would have to build a habitat for fruit flies too. Hopefully I can warm these guys up and the pupae will hatch. There's quite a bit of larvae I see still, too.


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## rmp (Oct 28, 2015)

If you don't want to build a habitat a decent alternative is to make a habit of starting fly cultures every week. Once the first ones start hatching you will have a constant supply of flies. If you don't have that many frogs to justify making so many cultures you can make them every two weeks, or use smaller containers. 

Hope this helps!


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

rmp said:


> If you don't want to build a habitat a decent alternative is to make a habit of starting fly cultures every week. Once the first ones start hatching you will have a constant supply of flies. If you don't have that many frogs to justify making so many cultures you can make them every two weeks, or use smaller containers.
> 
> Hope this helps!


Thanks. The problem was getting the initial boom. I have 9 frogs so I keep 3 to 4 cultures on hand at any given moment.


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

So after researching some more on here and Josh's Frogs I found that:
1. My cultures were kept too cool. FFs will take MUCH longer to grow in cooler temperatures. Their life cycle can take 3x as long in colder temperatures.
2. My cultures were a little on the dry side.

Last night I sprayed a little water into the cultures and placed them in a warmer area of my room. I also put them in an open box to help keep them insulated/humid.

Lo and behold! Both cultures have a ton of adults today. I wouldn't call it a "boom" but they went from having 0-10 adults to having 50+ each. 

I picked up 2 cultures of hydei (it was all they had) at a local reptile store to tie my frogs over in the meantime. It took a day, but my thumbnails really go for them, my auratus eat them, but not as aggressively as melo's.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

How does your culture produce if you only have 0-10 adults in it? 





FrogTim said:


> So after researching some more on here and Josh's Frogs I found that:
> 1. My cultures were kept too cool. FFs will take MUCH longer to grow in cooler temperatures. Their life cycle can take 3x as long in colder temperatures.
> 2. My cultures were a little on the dry side.
> 
> ...


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

erikm said:


> How does your culture produce if you only have 0-10 adults in it?


There were lots of pupae and larvae.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Was this a culture you started?

Did you start it with 100+ flies?

50 flies from a culture is... not good 

A boom is literally hundreds and hundreds.


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

erikm said:


> Was this a culture you started?
> 
> Did you start it with 100+ flies?
> 
> ...


I started the 2 cultures on 12/2. They were started with about 50-100 flies each. I had to feed from these cultures on 12/9. Adult numbers slowly dwindled but I saw (still see) a lot of pupae and larvae. Temperatures and humidity also dropped during this time. Highs were 68F to lows around 62F.

I moved the culture to warmer temps and higher humidity and overnight I now have adults. It's weird how I had an apparent die-off of adults and now have a ton. 1 culture has 100+ adults now and the other has 50+.

I have a couple hydei cultures to feed from while these cultures do their thing. 

Crappy picture but you can see the pupae and larvae


And this morning I have adults! Hopefully they keep coming.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Start with 100 or even slightly more flies. Don't feed from the new cultures if you can help it, and keep them above 70. You'll be good to go


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