Warning: Gnats & Fruit Flies

[7Fin]

I know it's been aaaages since I've posted, but I feel that I need to warn people of something. On millipede guides there doesn't seem to be much warning or danger regarding gnats. From what I had read they were extremely annoying (true) but harmless to the animals, which turned out to be wrong. Last summer I had a nasty mite outbreak which murdered a couple of my favourite babies, which was pretty tragic but eventually I managed to get rid of all the mites and now there are none to be seen. However the millipedes kept dying, and now I think I see the culprit. Fruit flies, which despite my efforts have always been a presence in my vivarium, are killing my millipedes mid-moult. After seeing the eggs I can deduce that they must be burrowing underground and lay their eggs while the pedes are exposed, which in turn produces more fruit flies. This might not be the case, but after seeing these things practically infesting after a millipede death, and seeing the eggs first hand, I think it's worth noting that it's a possibility : T

 

[chanda]

They are more likely to be phorid flies than fruit flies. While fruit flies will lay their eggs in decaying fruit or vegetable matter, phorid flies are the ones that readily attack dead, dying, or sometimes even molting animals. There is even one genus - Myriophora - that specialize in killing millipedes.

https://bugguide.net/node/view/116752

 

[mantisfan101]

I had phorid flies start eating one of my male chinese mantids while he was still alive, so i would believe that they were phorid flies. I saw a bunch of maggots that had already eaten through his abdomen under his wings.

 

[chanda]

I had phorid flies start eating one of my male chinese mantids while he was still alive, so i would believe that they were phorid flies. I saw a bunch of maggots that had already eaten through his abdomen under his wings.

Yeah, I had phorid flies eat a P. irminia after she lost a couple of legs in a bad molt. From the looks of it, they laid eggs in the stumps where the legs had been - and the maggots ate their way into her body.

 

[mantisfan101]

Yeah, I had phorid flies eat a P. irminia after she lost a couple of legs in a bad molt. From the looks of it, they laid eggs in the stumps where the legs had been - and the maggots ate their way into her body.

Exactly. I avenged him though by feeding the maggots off to his offspring which took them with great gusto.

 

[Polenth]

I have stable populations of fungus gnats and fruit flies. They really are harmless.

Phorid flies are another matter and do look similar to fruit flies at first glance. On closer inspection, they have a hump on their back and dark eyes. Fruit flies have red eyes. Fungus gnats are distinct from both as they tend to run on the soil surface, have a slender build, and dangle their long legs when they fly. Seeing what sort of flies you have is the first step.