17 replies to this topic

[P0rcelain]

i have seen on antscanadas channel that there are mites which specifically eat other mites, and they have been tested and proven to prevent (or even sway) the loss of colonies to parasitic mites.

 

upon searching on google, sure enough, you can actually buy these mites as a method of pest control.

what do all of you think of this? have you tried it? did it work?

[ANTdrew]

I’ve never tried these. Mites are easy to prevent, though, by simply freezing all feeder insects before giving them to your ants. This is also the most humane way to pre-kill insects I think.

[P0rcelain]

using dry ice?

i have seen some forum posts on a tarantula forum that indicated that mites and their eggs especially, often survive freezing in a freezer.

Edited by P0rcelain, September 25 2019 - 2:23 AM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I just found mites in my Camponotus test tube     

I don't know how they got there other than (1) they were already there or (2) mealworms came with them. I've heard mixed things about freezing feeder insects - I froze crickets but mealworms I heard were usually okay??

I'm seriously considering buying some predatory mites myself, but if they got into my springtail/isopod bins they will decimate my springs.

[OhNoNotAgain]

And I just read that hypoaspis (predatory) mites will eat bee eggs in laboratory conditions? That sounds dangerous for ants. (It was an experiment to see if hypoaspis would eat varroa mites - they only ate the ones that fell off bees. How did AntsCanada get such success with these mites?)

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, October 20 2019 - 9:57 PM.

[ANTdrew]

While cleaning up the trash pile in my newest Tetramorium colony, I noticed the frass start moving on its own. There must be mites in there. I blame mealworms, too, because that’s the only thing I don’t freeze.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

While cleaning up the trash pile in my newest Tetramorium colony, I noticed the frass start moving on its own. There must be mites in there. I blame mealworms, too, because that’s the only thing I don’t freeze.

sounds like we need to freeze all our insects

[P0rcelain]

again, from what i understand, mite eggs survive extreme conditions, and they hatch on demand.

if i understand correctly, outbreaks like these happen because nothing can prey on the parasitic mites.

my advice is no replacement for good research, but i really think we mite be onto something with a more biogenic means of control. (sorry, i could not resist)

idk when, but it is clear i need to put more research into this, so i will do that.

[P0rcelain]

i would also like to say that hypoaspis mites are not the only predatory mites there are.

there are many more, but we would need to do research and possibly conduct tests of our own to find out if they are an effective counter to parasitic mites

[P0rcelain]

And I just read that hypoaspis (predatory) mites will eat bee eggs in laboratory conditions? That sounds dangerous for ants. (It was an experiment to see if hypoaspis would eat varroa mites - they only ate the ones that fell off bees. How did AntsCanada get such success with these mites?)

https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC6286145/

would this be where you found out about this, by any chance?

in the risk assessment, they discovered that hypoaspis mites eat unprotected eggs and brood of bees, but leave them alone in the nest.

the conclusion was that they are not a threat to a bee colony in natural conditions, but are not that helpful either.

this said, bees are very different to ants and i do not imagine they are native to hive conditions.

their behavior would be very different in an ant colony.

i should say though, that i am deliberately not telling you it would be 'safe'.

Edited by P0rcelain, December 10 2019 - 2:49 PM.

[P0rcelain]

http://www.myrmecos....ly-like-lasius/

sorry to be spamming, but i want to keep you guys updated as i surf the web.

if you have a problem with it, say so and i will start compiling all my information and posting it in big chunks.

this article here claims that parasitic mite species are specific to each ant species, so your risks and liabilities are going to depend on what kind of ants you keep.

i would say for the sake of science, that if you get mites and they kill your ants, and you are capable of taking photos of high enough detail in order to identify the mites, you should do so.

that said, that obviously is not something most of us can do.

the articles source:

https://link.springe...-0262-6?LI=true

Edited by P0rcelain, December 10 2019 - 2:56 PM.

[P0rcelain]

https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC4956750/

macrodinychus mites (the entire genus) may be parasitic to ants. 9 of 22 discovered species, according to wikipedia (not the most reliable) have been discovered to be parasitic to ants. other sources have varying numbers.

https://www.nature.c...598-019-44791-2

this says there are 26 recognized species and that 7 of them are parasitic to ants.

the reason why hypoaspis mites (in theory) work is because hypoaspis mites are a predatory mite that feed off of a vast array of small, earthly insects and arthropods.

this does include springtails. the objective is to maintain a balanced food web between different earth dwelling species.

this way, you have springtails (which are being preyed upon by the predatory mites), predatory mites, which are eating the springtails and serve as a countermeasure that will reduce the risk of macrodinychus mites or other mites that may be parasitic.

again, i must be completely clear. they will eat the other animals in your soil. this would be intentional, because otherwise they cannot survive long enough to be useful.

as long as the ecosystem is stable, this is ok.

thrips apparently eat mites, so if it becomes a problem it may be possible to introduce thrips too. but i am going to have to end my research there for today.

let me know if any of this was helpful and be sure to give me tips for more research later or share any information you have found. sources would be appreciated, just so we know where all this information is coming from.

[P0rcelain]

https://www.tapatalk...tes-t14305.html

in this thread frogger1 details his use of a predatory mite species 'Amblyseius cucumeris'

he reports on the results of the initial release of the mites into the setup and the aftermath

after limited success with Amblyseius cucumeris, my speculation as to why being that they do not eat much, he tries Hypoaspis geolaelaps

to my understanding, this is a species previously thought to be relared to Hypoaspis miles, which is modernly classified as Stratiolaelaps scimitus

i am unsure though. something to understand is that mites are still fairly unknown in terms of biology, even more so than ants.

reading on, it seems the Hypoaspis mites did not help either

someone suggests sending one of the dead ants to a university or college to get the parasitic mites identified

this strikes me as a much better solution to identification than attempting to identify parasitic mites ourselves

there are some reports of literally wiping off mites but i would take this with a grain of salt

many species of mites like to hitch rides on ants but are completely harmless

if a mite is parasitic i would think it would be a lot harder to get off, as the ant would do it themselves if they could and wanted to

talk of the mites dying of old age is also ill informed

usually it is only one stage of development in the mites which is parasitic

mites do not live long at all, but it does not matter

they reproduce so fast and the eggs are so resilient, that is how the plague starts in the first place and it is why it is so hard to get rid of them

the thread ends there, with total uncertainty

 

my personal analysis is that the type of parasitic mite which is chosen for the setup must be quite important. it is possible that in the case of antscanada, the mites worked because they were mites which had been proven to travel on other insects and feed off of other mites. using the correct species is important, and i am hoping i will be able to discover more species than just Stratiolaelaps scimitus which are helpful to ant keeping

also to prove whether or not Stratiolaelaps scimitus is helpful in the first place

Edited by P0rcelain, December 11 2019 - 1:47 PM.

[P0rcelain]

frankly, experimentation on this interests me. i am by no means a licensed scientist, but i could see myself keeping many colonies of ants just to test what mites work for which ant species and which do not.

 

although, i am not sure if i will. we will see, i guess.

[Rob11420]

I have had success with predatory mites. My Messor Capitatus colony had mites last year, they weren’t parasitic mites though, I think they were some type of grain mite as they didn’t effect any of my other colonies and the only difference in food were seeds. I ordered some “spider mite killer” from EBay and got 5 sachets. The link to the order isn’t working anymore so I can’t say for sure what the exact species is but I’m 95% sure they were Amblyseius Andersoni after some searching online. They worked really well and got rid of all the mites after a few weeks. I emptied a sachet into a small bottle and couvered it with cling film then poked some small holes in because the sachets themselves were quite big. I’m not sure how effective they would be with parasitic mites though. I hope this helps

[P0rcelain]

much appreciated! i will look into this species and weigh its effectiveness.

[P0rcelain]

parasitic mites being used against invasive ants

you may consider this useless information, but it is quite important to understand how parasitic mites 'work'

the main thing that interested me about this is how in nature parasites often coexist with ants without destroying the entire colony

https://www.nature.c...icles/srep29995

[RushmoreAnts]

using dry ice?

You don't have to; a freezer is sufficient. You could if you wanted to, though.