Food requirements
We grow these flies on banana or cornmeal food.
Temperature
18 – 25°C is the range they will grow at. They grow slower at the lower temperatures. Embryo to adult can take 13 – 35 days depending upon the temperature and the species. In some species (e.g. Z. tuberculatus), the life cycle will sometimes change in duration and it is not unusual to have to wait > 5 weeks for adults.
Pupation conditions
The flies will typically crawl up the sides of the vial in order to pupate, but the addition of paper along the side of the vial when there are many larvae present is helpful.