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Re: microworms overrun by fruitflies
I think it was Louis Pasteur who proved that if flies cannot get to
the medium, they will not be able to reproduce there. He proved that flies
are not spontaneously generated (a belief among "traditional" scientists at
the time) in rotting meat, but are simply produced from eggs laid there by
adult flies. Keep your microworms covered. If you want to maintain air
flow in the containers, then cut out a hole in a solid lid and use silicone
to glue a piece of plastic window screen over it. No more insects in your
worms.
Jay Moylan
_______________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Karpa-Wilson" <dkarpawi at indiana_edu>
To: <killietalk at aka_org>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 9:45 AM
Subject: microworms overrun by fruitflies
> Hey,
>
> I just lost my microworm cultures to an infestation of fruitflies. I
guess
> those larvae are pretty nutritious too, but high on the gross factor.
Does
> anyone have suggestion for how to avoid this in future?
>
> I've been using wheat germ and oats with activated yeast as a medium. I
> keep a pair of cultures in margarine containers in a plastic shoe box
> partly filled with water (the humidity previously eliminated the flies).
I
> had a pair of shoe boxes, and I'd change on pair out weekly. Now the
flies
> have completely eliminated both of the cultures (one 4 weeks old, one 2
> weeks, since I'd fallen behind.).
>
> I'll be getting more, and I"ve vinegar eels to fall back on, but I was
> wondering if anyone else had run into these problems and what they did.
> Thanks!
>
> Doug
>
> Doug Karpa-Wilson
> Department of Biology
> Indiana University
> Jordan Hall
> 1001 E. 3rd St.
> Bloomington, IN 47405
>
>
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