Am I the Only One Who Thinks Drain Flies (Psychodidae) Are Adorable?

[WildSpider]

You just need to develop poor cleaning habits like me. Then you’ll see the larvae from time to time.

I'll take 500 .

Do you find your larvae in dark and moist areas?

 

[Introvertebrate]

I'll take 500 .

Do you find your larvae in dark and moist areas?

Yeah. I think the larvae are basically aquatic. Wet areas around a sink that haven’t been cleaned for a while. Kyle the roach guy was offering the flies on his website at some point.

 

[WildSpider]

Yeah. I think the larvae are basically aquatic. Wet areas around a sink that haven’t been cleaned for a while. Kyle the roach guy was offering the flies on his website at some point.

Oh, awesome. Thank you .

 

[SonsofArachne]

I was actually reading online that you can scrape along your drain and potentially get this sort of scum off of it. In that scum, you can supposedly find their larvae. I'm kind of thinking of trying this and hopefully starting a colony with them .

I accidentally started a colony in a springtail colony by leaving the lid loose. So if you have some in your house apparently water, charcoal, and springtail food are enough to do it

I've heard these being called moth flies, which if you look at them makes sense.
It's a nicer common name than drain flies or sewer flies anyway

 

[SonsofArachne]

The real adorable of that family is the mighty Phlebotomus papatasi - in Italian 'pappatace'

I'm going to raise some of these and send them to enemies. Hopefully they will enjoy them so much they will become my friends.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Kyle says this about Clogmia albipunctata:

"Drain flies are familiar to anyone who has spent time in an outdoor public restroom. In warm weather, the fuzzy, moth-like adults can cover walls and will swarm lights at night. The larvae are important decomposers both in nature and in human sewage systems; they feed on both the decaying organic matter as well as the fungi and bacteria breaking it down. In captivity, a few millimeters of water with some dead leaves and wood mixed in can be used as the basis for the cultivation medium. Add the adults, sprinkle in some yeast (or a similar food of choice) and within days larvae will appear. Cultures seldom need more maintenance than the occasional feeding or replacement of evaporated water. Heavy feeding will induce surges of adults, which make unrivaled mantid food. The filter fly is not known to infest restrooms or houses like its smaller relatives, however it is an opportunist and its hardiness should not be underrated."

 

[SonsofArachne]

Kyle says this about Clogmia albipunctata:

In captivity, a few millimeters of water with some dead leaves and wood mixed in can be used as the basis for the cultivation medium. Add the adults, sprinkle in some yeast (or a similar food of choice) and within days larvae will appear. Cultures seldom need more maintenance than the occasional feeding or replacement of evaporated water.

pretty much what happened in one of my springtail colonies.

 

[WildSpider]

I accidentally started a colony in a springtail colony by leaving the lid loose. So if you have some in your house apparently water, charcoal, and springtail food are enough to do it

I've heard these being called moth flies, which if you look at them makes sense.
It's a nicer common name than drain flies or sewer flies anyway

Kyle says this about Clogmia albipunctata:

"Drain flies are familiar to anyone who has spent time in an outdoor public restroom. In warm weather, the fuzzy, moth-like adults can cover walls and will swarm lights at night. The larvae are important decomposers both in nature and in human sewage systems; they feed on both the decaying organic matter as well as the fungi and bacteria breaking it down. In captivity, a few millimeters of water with some dead leaves and wood mixed in can be used as the basis for the cultivation medium. Add the adults, sprinkle in some yeast (or a similar food of choice) and within days larvae will appear. Cultures seldom need more maintenance than the occasional feeding or replacement of evaporated water. Heavy feeding will induce surges of adults, which make unrivaled mantid food. The filter fly is not known to infest restrooms or houses like its smaller relatives, however it is an opportunist and its hardiness should not be underrated."

This information is great! Thank you, guys!

It would be awesome to get a colony going by springtime before more slings start hatching out.