What do Flightless Fruit Flies look like?

Fruit Flies will go through the same life cycle which averages two weeks.

Egg - these are too small to see with the naked eye.
Larvae - the maggots are small and white, they moult twice before starting to pupate.
Pupae - these are brown elongated cases, often pasted to the sides of the pot.
Flies - These will emerge as adults and begin to breed within a few hours of hatching, laying eggs around 24 hours later.

We breed three species here at Exotic Pets, both of which are classed as flightless or gliding.

Standard Black (Drosophila hydei) These are a relatively large flightless species of fruit fly, adults are approximately 2-3mm and are black in colour.
Turkish Gliders (Drosophila sp.) These are a smaller species, adults are approximately 1-2mm and are brown in colour. These flies are extremely prolific and produce huge numbers of offspring. They have curved wings, meaning they can glide rather than fully fly.
Vestigial Wing (Drosophila melanogaster) These are a smaller species, adults are approximately 1-2mm and are brown in colour. They are so named because their wings are vestigial, meaning they are genetically bred to develop wings which are reduced in size and do not fully function.

Where are Flightless Fruit Flies from?

Native to tropical regions across the globe.

Our Fruit Fly Cultures are created by us in a modern, ethical facility in the UK, reared on high end food - meaning that they arrive to you fresh and in excellent health as standard.

How to care for Flightless Fruit Fly Cultures

Your Fruit Flies will be delivered in a culture pot with a sponge stopper in the top and wood wool for the flies to cling to. On arrival, they may appear immobile if temperatures are low but will soon become active when warm again. Fruit Flies are best stored at room temperature around 15-24°C, this will encourage the flies to begin breeding and kick start the culture.

DO NOT OPEN THE CULTURE UNTIL YOU SEE MAGGOTS!

This is a vital part of ensuring the culture provides you with large numbers of flies. Fresh cultures can take a few weeks to mature; if the adults provided aren’t given the chance to breed, the culture will crash and you will need to start over. For those requiring large numbers of flies consistently, we recommend buying several tubs over the course of a few weeks. By staggering cultures created at different times, you will have a constant supply to harvest - ideal for keepers of dart frogs and those keeping large numbers of mantids.

You will not need to feed the flies as the pot contains a specialised food formula. This blend ensures the maggots have the nutrients required to grow and the flies are as nutritious as possible prior to feeding them to your pets. The wood wool included in the pot provides plenty of dry media for the flies to lay their eggs upon. The culture should continue to yield flies for 2-4 weeks.

The benefits of using Flightless Fruit Fly Cultures

Fruit Flies are the perfect size for feeding to dart frogs, invertebrates such as mantids and spiderlings and many dwarf lizard species. We recommend feeding as part of a varied diet, as with any livefood, variety is the key to providing a well balanced, nutritious diet. The addition of calcium and vitamins is recommended to enhance the nutritional content of these flies.

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