From owner-drosophila@net.bio.net Wed Aug 09 23:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!NICOLE.UPD.EDU.PH!nsri From: nsri@NICOLE.UPD.EDU.PH (UP Natural Science Research Institute email account) Newsgroups: bionet.drosophila Subject: FOOD RECIPE-NSRI-UP DILIMAN Date: 10 Aug 1995 02:18:36 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 67 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: <9508100911.AA31744@nicole.upd.edu.ph> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net FLY FOOD RECIPE Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman This inexpensive fly food recipe is for Drosophila melanogaster researchers based in TROPICAL COUNTRIES where CORNMEAL, CORNFLOUR, TEGOSEPT, and TEDION are EXPENSIVE, NOT-EASY-TO-GET, or UNAVAILABLE. This fly food recipe has been proven to be suitable for local wild type Drosophila melanogasterand imported Drosophila melanogaster mutant stocks. This recipe is a modification of a fly food formula faxed to me by Phyllis Oster, Curator of Stocks, Mid- America Stock Center. IF THE INGREDIENTS OF THE BLOOMINGTON AND MID-AMERICA FOOD RECIPE ARE AVAILABLE IN YOUR LOCALITY, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE THEIR FORMULAS. THIS RECIPE HAS NOT BEEN TRIED ON OTHER DROSOPHILA SPECIES. Ingredients (For 1 - 1.25 L fly food) 100 gms CORN STARCH 20 gms DRY YEAST (Baker's yeast) 11 gms AGAR 50 gms SUCROSE 6 mL PROPIONIC ACID 0.5 mL PHOSPHORIC ACID 25 mL 1.5 % BENZYL BENZOATE SOLUTION ( 1.5 mL Benzyl Benzoate to 98.5 mL ethanol ) 1000 mL WATER Procedure Add agar in 500 mL water, boil under low heat until the agar melts. You can add 200 mL water after the agar melts to replace evaporated water. Mix corn starch, yeast, and sucrose in 400 mL water using a 1 Liter beaker. Stir vigorously until all ingredients dissolve. Add enough water to make the solution 500 mL. Stir again. Pour well-stirred corn starch-yeast-sucrose solution into the pan containing the melted agar. Stir constantly under low flame until the whole solution becomes a not-so-thick, creme-colored soup. Make sure that the soup is not very dilute ( it's consistency shouldn't be like water but thicker). Add one by one benzyl benzoate, phosphoric acid, and propionic acid. Make sure to stir the food thoroughly after each preservative component is added. After the addition of the last component, allow the food to boil for five minutes with constant stirring. Pour into bottles or vials. Allow the food to cool and solidify. Wipe out moisture at the sides of the bottles and vials with clean tissue paper or absorbent cotton. Seal properly the mouths of your bottles/vials. Refrigerate bottles/vials containing fly food if they are not to be used immediately. It would be good to leave a long thin film of fly food on a small portion of the wall of your bottles/vials ( you can achieve this by pouring the fly food on the container's side). I have noticed that females love to lay a lot of eggs on this portion compared to the medium found at the bottom of containers. Eggs and larvae can be seen visibly at this thin film. BENJAMIN J. BOLIVAL, JR. Natural Sciences Research Institute University of the Philippines, Diliman 1101 Quezon City, Philippines email: nsri@nicole.upd.edu.ph -- .