[Guest]

I just got my first fruit fly culture today from eds. I got media, and 50 deli cups from there also. Long story short, I made 2 cultures from the already started culture I recieved from eds. I cut a hole the size of a quarter in the lids.Right now I have a single paper towel under the lid but I was wanting to know if I could use cotton balls to plug the holes instead.

I am a noob at this so please bare with me. Where would one suggest keeping their cultures? What about keeping them in a closet or under a microwave stand. Also, how do mites get in if the lids are plugged?

All replies will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Arklier]

Not sure about cotton balls, but I used folded paper towels to great effect before I switched to insect cups from Superior. As for where you keep them, they can be kept just about anywhere. I keep mine under an aquarium stand. As long as you put them in an area that doesn't get below 60 degrees they will be fine. As for how mites get in, they are very small. It's easy for them to crawl between the lid and the bottom of the container, since on most cups the lid doesn't meet completely all the way around. So yes, they can get in if the culture is plugged. I had them get into my confused flour beetle culture, and there were no holes at all in it.

 

[kleinhanz]

I just use Ed's Foam Plugs, works for me...

http://www.edsflymeatinc.com/Merchant2/ ... ry_Code=CM

 

[Guest]

I use coffee filters for most of my cultures and if you have problems with them drying out just double them up.