Since Josh's Frogs began in 2004, our goal has been to make it easier for people to culture fruit flies. We want to simplify the process and increase the chances of success so that fruit fly culturing isn't an obstacle for people keeping small reptiles and amphibians like poison dart frogs. 

There is a wide range of environments where people keep fruit fly cultures, from zoos who keep their humidity in the upper 80% range to hobbyists with one culture sitting on top of their tank with 5-10% humidity since their heater/AC unit is running. Therefore, we offer 2 different lid styles, Vented Insect Cup Lids and the old FABRIC Vented Insect Cup Lids.

Vented Insect Cup Lids

Great for:

• the majority of people culturing fruit flies
• low humidity environments like a bedroom or living room.
• cultures kept out in the open
• people who want to re-use their lids

We began testing these lids in June 2014. For most people, these are the go-to lids. The limited ventilation allows the cultures to stay humid. The cause of 99% of fruit fly culture problems is due to low humidity.

If you are using FABRIC Vented Insect Lids and you see mold, the culture dies off prematurely, the media gets crusty, or the flies are pupating only at the bottom of the cup, then you will want to use the Vented Insect Cup Lids.

FABRIC Vented Insect Cup Lids

Great for:

• high humidity environments
• an enclosed cabinet or container that they keep their cultures inside of
• stacking cultures on top of each other

These are the lids that have been around for decades, so they're the lid most people are used to. Due to the amount of ventilation these provide, many people have to continually add water to the culture to keep it from drying out.

If you are using the Vented Insect Cup Lid and the media is getting sloshy, or you get tons of larvae, but nothing hatches, then you'll want to use the FABRIC Vented Insect Cup Lids.

At Josh's Frogs, we're producing over 1,200 cultures a week. The new vented insect cup lids allow for a more stable, longer lived, productive culture in most environments. However, the fabric lids do work very well in high humidity environments, or when ventilation is severely restricted. Watch your cultures and choose the lid that works best for you!