COMMON FRUIT FLY
(Drosophila melanogaster)
 
These vinegar flies are the smaller of the two commonly offered species and when  it comes to small-sized feeders they are perfect for many small herptiles and inverts who simply can't handle larger prey. Between the two species melanogaster is accepted by all species of dart frog, reproduces twice as quickly as hydei, and of all the feeder vinegar flies available only wingless mels are entirely incapable of reverting back to flighted. 
 
Three varieties offered by the OIF; flightless, wingless, and Turkish glider. Descriptions of each variety are found below. 
 
FLIGHTLESS (Mf): The most common form of mels that are encountered and in our experience are the quickest to breed. This variety CAN revert back to flighted so it is important to keep them on the cooler side temperature wise and if breeding your own ensure you use the freshest cultures to seed your own. 
 
WINGLESS (Mw): our personal favourite at the OIF predominantly because they are incapable of producing flighted offspring again, thus offer all the advatages that flightless mels do without the drawback. This variety has a light coloured body and, as the name would indicate, completely lacks wings. We have never had this variety crash on us either.
 
TURKISH GLIDERS: these are difficult to find but are useful for aboreal species and picky eaters. Turks have the smallest size of all the fruit fly varieties, is winged but not fully flighted, and can 'glide' short distances making for a more active feeder triggering a feeding responses from even the pickiest of eaters. It is important that these cultures be kept in a temperature range betweem 21 and 27° C - any cooler and they stop breeding. Any warmer and they can revert to being fully flighted agian.