Test 1 for different foods
Standard food dried out in the course of experiment (1 week in incubator at 25 DEG, tubes prepared with food 1 1/2 week before use).
Thus, tested 4 food preparations supposedly more moist than before:
- 1 M Glucose in 1 % Agar
- 3 M Glucose in 1 % Agar (Reference: Burke and Waddell 2011)
- Standard Food:Agar 50:50
- freshly prepared food
in up to 20 tubes (some flies drowned in the beginning) with 1 fly/tube in incubator at 20 DEG, then 25 DEG. Started 10.02.2014.
Results after 1 week (17.02.2014) @ 20 DEG
- 1 M Glucose in 1 % Agar - looks juicy, 15/15 flies alive
- 3 M Glucose in 1 % Agar - looks very dried up*, 9/19 flies alive
- Standard Food:Agar 50:50 - looks ok, 19/19 flies alive
- freshly prepared food - starts to dry up, 16/20 flies alive
* sugar crystallized, flies could probably not reach the non-crystallized part/water
Results after almost 2 weeks (21.02.2014) w/ 5 d @ 25 DEG
- 1 M Glucose in 1 % Agar - looks juicy, 14/15 flies alive (1 looked drowned)
- 3 M Glucose in 1 % Agar - looks very dried up*, 2/19 flies alive
- Standard Food:Agar 50:50 - looks bit dried, 19/19 flies alive
- freshly prepared food - looks dry, 14/20 flies alive
Results after 2 weeks (24.02.2014) after 1 week @ 20 DEG and 1 week @ 25 DEG
- 1 M Glucose in 1 % Agar – still looks moist, 13/15 flies alive
- 3 M Glucose in 1 % Agar – looks totally dried up, 0/19 flies alive
- Standard Food:Agar 50:50 – starts to dry up, 17/19 flies alive
- Freshly prepared food – looks totally dried up, 1/20 flies alive
* sugar crystallized, flies could probably not reach the non-crystallized part/water
Resolution: best use the Standard Food:Agar 50:50, because it keeps enough moisture to maintain the flies alive and, on the other hand, it certainly doesn’t interfere in the behavioural assay, as may do so the 1 M Glucose in 1 % Agar.
Test 2 for quality of Agar:Food mixture
Put Agar:Food mixture into tubes and put into incubator at 25 DEG for 2 weeks. Food looked very good, flies mostly survived.