[Guest]

I just opened my springtail culture and found a bunch of black flys developing. A few flew out. They are pretty small and have big wings. They don't look like fruit flies. They look more like mosquitos. Should I trash the culture to prevent further infestation?

 

[jbeetle]

wasps not flies

Those might be parasitic wasps, not actually flies (a species of jeweled wasps I believe). They don't really cause any harm and the frogs eat them, but I am surprised they are coming from your springtail culture. I can make you a new one if you want? You could also sit the culture in a tank for a day and the frogs should handle them . Call/email me about this, sorry.

 

[Guest]

fungus gnats?

I'm wondering if they could be the fungus gnats. You sometimes see them colonizing houseplant soil and I know they've found their way into some of my nastier fruit fly cultures.

Ken

 

[Guest]

I will second Ken's post. I have had these things attack my springtail cultures too.... I have found that if you cool the springtail culture down (I put them in my garage for 2 weeks) the invaders will die off.

Benjamin

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I'd also say fungus gnats.I had a huge collection of them when I first started my 15 high my imitators are in. They pretty much wiped out the popualtion by eating them.Now I know why they spent alot of time messing around in the leaf litter :lol:
If they are smaller and seem to move faster then fruit flies when they run they are fungus gnats for sure but they can't outrun a frog tongue.
Mark W.

 

[Guest]

black flies aka fungus gnats

Definitely fungus gnats, they seem to get into the tightest of cultures, all this means is that you are keeping your culture(s) too warm, they can wipe out a culture very quickly. We keep several cultures in our "cool" temp frog room for our highland species and they are our "mother" cultures in case we have to re-seed our feeder cultures, we also just throw thousands into a display tank and they will thrive and breed in their until they are eaten... Peter Keane