​All About Flightless Fruit Flies

Flightless fruit flies are one of the smallest feeders available on the market. They are extremely popular for people who keep frogs, tarantulas, mantids and even fish! They are a good option for many reasons from their size to their nutrition.

There are two main “sizes” of flightless fruit flies. The first, and possibly most common, variety of flightless fruit flies are the Drosophila Hydei. These fruit flies are about ⅛ inch and are the larger of the two types. These are flightless fruit flies, not wingless! These fruit flies still have little wings but they have been genetically altered to keep them from flying. Ironic, isn’t it?

The second variety is the Drosophila Melanogaster. These are wingless fruit flies, so they do not have any wings at all. These are the smaller of the two variants at only 1/16 inch! Both of the sizes are a great option, depending on what pets you are trying to feed.

Both the Drosophila Melanogaster and the Drosophila Hydei are very nutritious and contain a great amount of protein for their size. They also seem to be very appealing to pets as most are quick to chow down on them. They move around quickly and tend to trigger a feeding response for even the most picky eaters. Fruit flies are also extremely easy to care for. When you buy a fruit fly culture, you will be provided with a producing colony that will continue to give off fresh flies for 2- 3 weeks after you receive them. The flies don’t require any extra food and they do just fine at room temperature. They don’t need additional heat or refrigeration like some feeders do. Another great part about the flightless fruit flies is that they don’t smell or make any noise!

Not only are fruit flies easy to keep but they are actually very easy to breed! There is a variety of powdered food mixes that can be purchased if you are interested in creating your own fruit fly cultures. We recommend Repashy Superfly and that is what we prefer to use ourselves. This food is very easy to prepare and seems to work great and aid in amazing production. After cooking up the food, all you need to do is spoon a little bit into the bottom of a 32 oz deli cup and add a handful of excelsior to allow a surface for the flies to climb around. After the food completely cools, you can start the new culture by adding 40-50 flies from another producing culture. After about a week, you will start to see larvae in the new culture and in another week, you should see fresh flies emerging! At this time, you could make another new culture and repeat that schedule so that you have an ongoing supply of fruit flies for your pet!

Flightless fruit flies are, all around, a great feeder to keep on hand! From how easy they are to keep and breed to how good they are for our pets, we love offering these as a treat or even as a staple for smaller pets!