Just to clarify. You said they have perfectly formed wings, but do they actually fly?
My hydei have normal looking wings but can’t fly.
My hydei have normal looking wings but can’t fly.
Flightless fruit flies flying.
I have Melanogaster and Hydei cultures. The issue lies with the Hydei flies, I believe they've regain their ability for flight. This occurred during the third generation. I know not to mix different fly cultures or to allow contamination from wild flies, so I really don't understand why it's happening. When I first received the cultures from the vendor, I noticed the flies have crumpled deformed wings. It was only recently my husband remarked to me that a fruit fly just flew past his face. I assured him this cannot be the case since the flies were flightless. I do occasionally find a couple fruit flies scurrying around on surfaces because besides using them for the frogs in the vivarium, I dump them into the fish tanks, and some do crawl to safety. I checked my Hydei cultures and to my surprise, they all have perfectly formed wings! Destroying what I have and getting new cultures would be a pain and an additional cost. Any alternative solutions? Did you have a similar experience?
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
If it's not due to outside contamination then it's likely due to heat. From what I recall reading on the forum, warm weather allows the flies' wings to form properly. You can try looking through some older posts.
It's a Christmas miracle!
Yeah. Sometimes it happensDid you have a similar experience?
You can buy a new culture or start selecting flies with messed up wings and breeding them until you get them back to a flightless state. But, I think that would be a bit harder then paying amazon $20+ to bring a new culture to your house.Destroying what I have and getting new cultures would be a pain and an additional cost. Any alternative solutions?
First off, fruit flies aren't wingless, they are the are genetically altered so the wing muscles are too weak for flight.
I do remember reading something about high temperatures causing flies to regain flight, so I did a bit of digging and found this on a drosophila care sheet on an Aussie pet site:
Temperature: Keep out of direct sunlight. Avoid above 28C for extended periods, flies may genetically revert to flying form in future generations. Keep at 18-24C for the fastest possible growth.
I do remember reading something about high temperatures causing flies to regain flight, so I did a bit of digging and found this on a drosophila care sheet on an Aussie pet site:
Temperature: Keep out of direct sunlight. Avoid above 28C for extended periods, flies may genetically revert to flying form in future generations. Keep at 18-24C for the fastest possible growth.
There are definitely wingless melanogaster, not sure if there are wingless hydei.First off, fruit flies aren't wingless, they are the are genetically altered so the wing muscles are too weak for flight.
I do remember reading something about high temperatures causing flies to regain flight, so I did a bit of digging and found this on a drosophila care sheet on an Aussie pet site:
Temperature: Keep out of direct sunlight. Avoid above 28C for extended periods, flies may genetically revert to flying form in future generations. Keep at 18-24C for the fastest possible growth.
Some of my hydei regained flight last summer. I just made sure none of the flying ones were part of starting the new culture. Occasionally I’ll get a couple that fly again, but as long aa it is only one or two in a culture I am okay with it. If there are more I don’t create new cultures with it.
Where I live now no one has hydei, so I’m just trying to keep mine going as long as possible. If there are cultures that don’t have any flying try to seed new ones with those.
From what vendor did you buy curly winged hydei?
If the change is due to high temperature causing restoration of the protein folding (I'm not sure that this can happen in curly-winged FFs, but supposing that it can), then simply raising subsequent generations at the proper temps will produce the desired mutants. High temps do not affect the genes, only their expression, so the change isn't permanent.
I read that the curly mutation in melanogaster only produces the curly phenotype above about 65F. I don't know if this is the same gene as your flies carry.
I do know that I personally can't reliably tell what species a single bug is when it flies past my face, so it may be that the flying insect was something else.
If they all have reverted to normal phenotype, this cannot be from wild contamination; a wild dominant contaminant would still leave very many homozygous mutants especially considering the fact that all offspring of contaminated breedings would fly off at the time of seeding new cultures.I checked my Hydei cultures and to my surprise, they all have perfectly formed wings!
If the change is due to high temperature causing restoration of the protein folding (I'm not sure that this can happen in curly-winged FFs, but supposing that it can), then simply raising subsequent generations at the proper temps will produce the desired mutants. High temps do not affect the genes, only their expression, so the change isn't permanent.
I read that the curly mutation in melanogaster only produces the curly phenotype above about 65F. I don't know if this is the same gene as your flies carry.
I do know that I personally can't reliably tell what species a single bug is when it flies past my face, so it may be that the flying insect was something else.
Socratic,
I got my cultures from Josh's. After reading everyones' replies, I'll assume it is temperature that is causing the problem. They were initially presenting that crumpled, curly-winged look, in the first and second generation. Maybe it is the warmer summer weather, I'll have to dial back the AC. Our apartment is usually bug proof, except the bugs I cultivate. But you may be right, my husband could be mistaken. When I open a culture, some of the Hydei could leap or "fly" quite a distance, something that had not happened before, I'm not sure if they truly fly but definitely not putting it to the test. A bunch of flies loose in the apartment sounds like a disaster. Thank you everyone for weighing in. You guys are awesome, happy frogging...
I got my cultures from Josh's. After reading everyones' replies, I'll assume it is temperature that is causing the problem. They were initially presenting that crumpled, curly-winged look, in the first and second generation. Maybe it is the warmer summer weather, I'll have to dial back the AC. Our apartment is usually bug proof, except the bugs I cultivate. But you may be right, my husband could be mistaken. When I open a culture, some of the Hydei could leap or "fly" quite a distance, something that had not happened before, I'm not sure if they truly fly but definitely not putting it to the test. A bunch of flies loose in the apartment sounds like a disaster. Thank you everyone for weighing in. You guys are awesome, happy frogging...
I have been raising them for almost 17 years. They do not fly so you must of got another species in there that you did not notice, and they breed. I have 5 different kinds and I always seed the same way. Black hydei first, then gold hydei next. Then mel., after that a captive bred I have that are smaller than mel, and last gliders. I keep my bug vacumn there so I can catch any that escape so none can get in the wrong culture. The reason I do this is if the captive or gliders get in my other cultures, they will revert back to flying and I don't want that. Hope this helps.
This is true about temperature causing the flight muscles to properly fold and regaining the ability to fly. After a hurricane down here and 2.5 weeks without power the house temps increased to the critical level and about half of the Hydeis regain the ability to fly. But once the AC was running again, subsequent generations lost that ability again.First off, fruit flies aren't wingless, they are the are genetically altered so the wing muscles are too weak for flight.
I do remember reading something about high temperatures causing flies to regain flight, so I did a bit of digging and found this on a drosophila care sheet on an Aussie pet site:
Temperature: Keep out of direct sunlight. Avoid above 28C for extended periods, flies may genetically revert to flying form in future generations. Keep at 18-24C for the fastest possible growth.
Interresting enough i had the exact same expiriance just now.
And i am 100% sure there is no way a wild flying fruitfly got into the culture.
I did have some issues with the temperature controller, and it was getting a bit warm in my cabinet. around 30 degrees. So i recon this is most likely teh case.
Althoug i have never seen it happen befor, not even during summer time with warm periods.
And i am 100% sure there is no way a wild flying fruitfly got into the culture.
I did have some issues with the temperature controller, and it was getting a bit warm in my cabinet. around 30 degrees. So i recon this is most likely teh case.
Althoug i have never seen it happen befor, not even during summer time with warm periods.
ive seen a couple of my escapologist flies fly but not too many.
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
Dendroboard
A forum community dedicated to dart frog owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, health, behavior, housing, terrariums, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Top Contributors this Month
View All
Josh loves dart frogs
68 Replies
JasonE
60 Replies
Llehctim
32 Replies
Recommended Communities
