5 replies to this topic

[MaxGen]

Picked up a fruit fly culture at my local pet store that was infested with grain mites apparently.  Didn't even notice until I had fed almost the whole culture.  Now all my colonies have little white mites in them, most notable all over the glass

 

I don't believe the grain are harmful to the ants.  The colonies seem to be thriving.

 

Is there any way to get rid of the mites without hurting the ants?  What is their food source?  Don't know anything about their life cycle...

[kingz2015]

I use pieces of lime. The mites eventually attach on and I replace the lime. Slow process, but the mites population does get smaller.

[Joehostile85]

I had this problem with a Lasius neoniger colony. Because of this I freeze all the fruit flies before feeding them to my colony now.

[kingz2015]

I never thought bout that. Hmm and it worked fine?

[MaxGen]

I used to feed frozen, but they just seemed to prefer the live flys better...  I might try frozen again though.  Hopefully the lime trick will get rid of these guys...

[TennesseeAnts]

Grain mites are just annoying. They do not hurt the ants in any way, and in my experience actually clean up after them by eating leftovers. I purposely introduce them to Aphaenogaster colonies now.