Tell me again Heidai FF don't fly????
- Thread starter BocaJan
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blackbetty
Guest
I was told the same thing!! I noticed they dont fly as HIGH or as FAR as gnats/fruit flies, but they still fly!! 
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
It depends - normal hydei flies of course can fly. If you got flightless ones, they cannot. but they can climb and jump. They can climbs glass and jump very far.
merumontanus
Avid Member
The word "hydei" comes from its scientific name Drosophila hydei-- the other common, smaller, species is Drosophila melanogaster-- and it has nothing to do with their ability to fly. What plays a role in this is whether they are genetically modified to have vestigial wings or be wingless altogether.
D. hydei is much larger than D. melanogaster, and may glide a bit, but if they are actually flying, your flies may have gotten exposed to wild Drosophila. In addition, a genetic line of Drosophila that is not refreshed with new blood may eventually produce much smaller flies, and eventually regenerate flying ability.
Either way, it sounds like it's time for a new culture...
Fabián
Malicious
New Member
Good info, I heard they can glide short distances, but what you said makes perfect sense.
merumontanus
Avid Member
Yep, and I can tell you that gliding Drosophila are favored over the wingless mutants by my neonates. Anyone else noticed any difference in preference?
Fabián
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Invaders.....
You may have had a couple of household type fruit flies invade your culture. I made a major mistake and had a major problem last year. Instead of using the the tall clear plastic containers that I have used for years I accidentally set up a new culture in a similar looking container that had tiny holes punched just under the top rim. A cham had been shipped to me in it. I did not notice the tiny holes. Anyway, I set the culture up and some household flying fruitflies got in there and laid their eggs. I noticed nothing different. The larvae looked the same to me. Then hundreds of their offspring crawled out of the tiny holes and started flying all over the house. I was vacumning them up for weeks. I had glasses of wine and beer set on the counters because they are attracted to it and then I could vacumn them off the rim of the glass. I'm not saying you had a hole in your culture. You could have had a normal fruitfly invade some other way. It only take a couple to create a hoard.
You may have had a couple of household type fruit flies invade your culture. I made a major mistake and had a major problem last year. Instead of using the the tall clear plastic containers that I have used for years I accidentally set up a new culture in a similar looking container that had tiny holes punched just under the top rim. A cham had been shipped to me in it. I did not notice the tiny holes. Anyway, I set the culture up and some household flying fruitflies got in there and laid their eggs. I noticed nothing different. The larvae looked the same to me. Then hundreds of their offspring crawled out of the tiny holes and started flying all over the house. I was vacumning them up for weeks. I had glasses of wine and beer set on the counters because they are attracted to it and then I could vacumn them off the rim of the glass. I'm not saying you had a hole in your culture. You could have had a normal fruitfly invade some other way. It only take a couple to create a hoard.
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
Flyculture.com sells "turkish gliders", whihc I think are melanogaster, but semi-fliers. they have weird ings, and can't fly well, but they fly in little loops. Easily contained, nearly as easily as flightless ones, but man to chameleons go NUTS for them.
I culture hydei and melonogaster ff for my dart frogs and I have only had issues with fliers in my melonogasters. You can get wingless melonogasters (which I prefer) but they are smaller than the hydei. If you need to use the flies for feeding, take the culture outside and open it up to let all the fliers go. You can then feed the ones that aren't fliers. I would buy a new culture of flies to make your own cultures out of but if you need to use what you have, just let the fliers go. I have been told that when you get a flier mixed with your flightless ff, the male offspring that have been produced from the flier are usually fliers and the female offspring are not. I am not positive on that though so don't take it as fact. I have had a few cultures with fliers and I tell you, it is a pain in the neck to get those little things out of your house. You can set a bowl of beer or wine out and that should attract them so you can get rid of the ones that are lose in your house.
Candy
Candy
Addictions
New Member
I use ff's all the time because I have tons of frogs that eat them. Sometimes when a flier gets into a culture within hours it can have the entire culture flying. If you mix different kinds of flies like turkish gliders and wingless some how they end up being fliers as well. So when making cultures your not supposed to mix. But also when I feed the ff's to the frogs and they don't eat them all the humidity can cause them to also become fliers. So really it's no telling.
FruitFliesINC
New Member
flyculture.com sells d mulleri flies. They are basically the same size as d hydei but wingless. They're also the only vendor that sells that strain of fruit flies
this happened with my male dubia roaches! i thought they were flightless!!
hahahah just kidding just kidding
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blackbetty
Guest
So.. I have Flightless Hydei.. Black with Red eyes. Put them in the frog tank with the crickets.. Now I have FLYING black and white gnats!? Im confused as to how they go in and where they came from as I havent changed anything out and there are loads of them.. Fine for the frogs but I dont want them escaping! Could there have been something in the plant or soil?
