9 replies to this topic

[ConcordAntman]

I’m looking at ways to vary protein for my colonies. Does anyone have any experience with fly larvae as feeders? Can they be frozen?

[KitsAntVa]

honestly if that's the easiest thing you can find go ahead, but i warn you and I WILL WARN YOU. Unless they are things like fruit flies that are cultured in your home or you bought them from petco then don't. flies land on everything from poop to your neighbors toilet they carry disease very easily and can make your colony sick resulting in death, a good way to feed your colony is fruit flies from petco just go over there are get some and you'll be fine i do warn you though catching bugs from outside is not recommended especially if it is a bug that most people know carry bacteria or disease, the only insect i've found beneficial to my colonies that i catch outdoors are termites.

[KitsAntVa]

also if you have watched ender ants you would know he has fed his colony a fly and it literally gave birth in front of him, but what I'm trying to let you take away from this is that when the ants tasted the flies insides they either were disgusted or shocked by it. which i thought was pretty funny.

[ConcordAntman]

I was thinking of ordering some from Rainbow Mealworms. It seems they only come in lots of 250 though. I was planning to freeze them and pop a few at a time into the outworlds as needed. Kinda like ‘Tater Tots for my colonies! Freezing would likely prevent anything eclosing but I have no idea what the “shelf life” of frozen fly spikes is. Since its late in the season, I’ll probably stick with Dubias and crickets. 

[Ants_Dakota]

if you live near a fleet farm, petsmart, or petco, you could buy smaller batches there. (fleet farm only sells wax worms, actually)

[KitsAntVa]

Actually to help you out more you should read more about how they the fly larvae because if they are cultured they will most likely be safe to use.

[SDinLA]

Did you end up getting fly larvae for your ants? I was thinking about buying some from rainbow mealworms too but wanted to see what others experiences have been when using them. 

[Chickalo]

honestly if that's the easiest thing you can find go ahead, but i warn you and I WILL WARN YOU. Unless they are things like fruit flies that are cultured in your home or you bought them from petco then don't. flies land on everything from poop to your neighbors toilet they carry disease very easily and can make your colony sick resulting in death, a good way to feed your colony is fruit flies from petco just go over there are get some and you'll be fine i do warn you though catching bugs from outside is not recommended especially if it is a bug that most people know carry bacteria or disease, the only insect i've found beneficial to my colonies that i catch outdoors are termites.

Can you link the video?  lol

Also, this is interesting, tell us when/if you do feed them the larva, I'm curious on what happens!

[KitsAntVa]

6:03

[ConcordAntman]

Did you end up getting fly larvae for your ants? I was thinking about buying some from rainbow mealworms too but wanted to see what others experiences have been when using them. 

Never did. It was too cold for me to maintain a fruit fly culture so I ended up going with crickets and waiting for Rainbow mealworms to regrow their supply of juvenile Dubias.