Wingless Houseflies?

[SnakeDancer]

Does anyone know a source for wingless/flightless houseflies (NOT Drosophila)? Both the maggots and the adults would be great for animals who need larger prey than Drosophila. I could swear I saw these advertised years ago, but no one seems to have them now.

In the summer I sometimes harvest maggots "from the wild" by leaving out a dead mouse (leftover snake food) in a flower box atop my fence. Within a few days there are maggots. This year I'm hoping to try out the black soldier fly culture too. But if I could find the wingless houseflies, that would be a nice all-year source of food....

 

[fishkeeper]

I've never seen wingless, but have seen "curly winged".

I must admit I am not exactly enthusiastic about them as food. It must be the whole ick and "germy: propaganda.

 

[SnakeDancer]

I've never seen wingless, but have seen "curly winged".
I must admit I am not exactly enthusiastic about them as food. It must be the whole ick and "germy: propaganda.

Well, if you're raising them indoors, you know they haven't been grown on anything nasty. My geckos love flies, but it's sometimes a bit of a trick to maneuver a fast flying insect into the terrarium without an escape.

I'd be happy to find curly-winged versions, they don't have to be wingless - just flightless. Do you remember where they were available, by chance?

 

[RainFrog]

At one time, I believe Arizona Dendrobates Ranch was working with them, but I haven't heard anymore about it in years.

The problem (other than the nasty smell and spread of pathogenic bacteria) is the breeding cycle. Houseflies need significantly more ventilation than drosophila. They cannot be cultured in fruit fly jars. Another problem is getting them to lay eggs. They need something stinky to lay eggs on, and then one must transfer the egg laying site to a jar with medium.

 

[Fishfur]

Have you considered bean beetles ? They are dead easy to raise, needing nothing but dry beans, such as black eye pea, mung or adzuki bean. No water, no food. Adults live about two weeks, black, crawl pretty fast, can be dusted. Don't fly, adults are about a quarter inch long.

 

[AnimlEnthusiast]

I've been wondering the same thing!
Someone posted some links on my post, that you might also be interested in. :happy:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...need-know-about-flightless-flies-maggots.html

Does anyone know a source for wingless/flightless houseflies (NOT Drosophila)? Both the maggots and the adults would be great for animals who need larger prey than Drosophila. I could swear I saw these advertised years ago, but no one seems to have them now.

In the summer I sometimes harvest maggots "from the wild" by leaving out a dead mouse (leftover snake food) in a flower box atop my fence. Within a few days there are:violent: maggots. This year I'm hoping to try out the black soldier fly culture too. But if I could find the wingless houseflies, that would be a nice all-year source of food....