16 replies to this topic

[Broncos]

I’m seeing some mites on my pogonomyrmex californicus and am not sure if they are parasitic or not but I want to see where I could get mites that eat the mites on ants

[RushmoreAnts]

I’m seeing some mites on my pogonomyrmex californicus and am not sure if they are parasitic or not but I want to see where I could get mites that eat the mites on ants

If they are parasitic, you would see dead ants by now.

[Broncos]

I’m seeing some mites on my pogonomyrmex californicus and am not sure if they are parasitic or not but I want to see where I could get mites that eat the mites on ants

If they are parasitic, you would see dead ants by now.

Half the colony has been wiped out


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[antwall]

I’m not sure about this one, but I think you can search up “predatory mites” on amazon and get those. Not sure if they work though.

[Broncos]

Ok thanks


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[Manitobant]

No offense man but your colony might be doomed. In the meantime you could try the lemon method, which is putting lemons in the outworld.

[Broncos]

This is what I’m seeing


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[RushmoreAnts]

No offense man but your colony might be doomed. In the meantime you could try the lemon method, which is putting lemons in the outworld.

I agree. From what I've heard about parasitic mites, even if you did order Stratiolaelaps scimitus (I love that one), the colony might be dead by the time they arrived. But you are welcome to try. If you do decide to order, the mites come in large batches (about two thousand each), so be prepared.

Edited by AntsDakota, November 25 2019 - 4:12 PM.

[Broncos]

No offense man but your colony might be doomed. In the meantime you could try the lemon method, which is putting lemons in the outworld.

I agree. From what I've heard about parasitic mites, even if you did order Stratiolaelaps scimitus (I love that one), the colony might be dead by the time they arrived. But you are welcome to try. If you do decide to order, the mites come in large batches (about two thousand each), so be prepared.

Does it look like mites on the ant?


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[dspdrew]

Can't see anything in the picture. You need to get one of those 5 dollar macro lenses from Amazon.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

No offense man but your colony might be doomed. In the meantime you could try the lemon method, which is putting lemons in the outworld.

I agree. From what I've heard about parasitic mites, even if you did order Stratiolaelaps scimitus (I love that one), the colony might be dead by the time they arrived. But you are welcome to try. If you do decide to order, the mites come in large batches (about two thousand each), so be prepared.

Does it look like mites on the ant?


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I thought you said you had seen mites on the ants.....

[Broncos]

No offense man but your colony might be doomed. In the meantime you could try the lemon method, which is putting lemons in the outworld.

I agree. From what I've heard about parasitic mites, even if you did order Stratiolaelaps scimitus (I love that one), the colony might be dead by the time they arrived. But you are welcome to try. If you do decide to order, the mites come in large batches (about two thousand each), so be prepared.

Does it look like mites on the ant?


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I thought you said you had seen mites on the ants.....

I saw little things on the joints that I didn’t see before


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[RushmoreAnts]

They're probably mites if half the colony is dead.

[P0rcelain]

personally i advocate the use of predatory mites as a preventative measure

as people have already said, and from what i have heard, if you have mites your ants could already be doomed

if it was me i would order mites anyway

and if your ants do not survive, cultivate the mites

that way the odds of this happening again are drastically slimmer

i am afraid there is probably not much else you can do

the thing about mites, which i have gathered from my research

is that they come in enormous numbers, get everywhere, and are often there even when you do not see them

this is because they lay eggs everywhere that can lay dormant in almost any condition, and are impossible to get rid of

i have joked about this before to my friends. but the only way you can stop something so unstoppable as that is to fight fire with fire. or, put more humorously, fight mites with more mites.

(lemon therapy is probably worth a shot, though)

Edited by P0rcelain, December 1 2019 - 12:14 AM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I believe the mites you are looking for (made famous by AntsCanada) are hypoapsis miles, now named Stratiolaelaps scimitus. If you search online some places offer them. I would’ve bought some but apparently they will eat bee larvae so I’m a little concerned they might eat ant brood.

[OhNoNotAgain]

personally i advocate the use of predatory mites as a preventative measure

as people have already said, and from what i have heard, if you have mites your ants could already be doomed

if it was me i would order mites anyway

and if your ants do not survive, cultivate the mites

that way the odds of this happening again are drastically slimmer

i am afraid there is probably not much else you can do

the thing about mites, which i have gathered from my research

is that they come in enormous numbers, get everywhere, and are often there even when you do not see them

this is because they lay eggs everywhere that can lay dormant in almost any condition, and are impossible to get rid of

i have joked about this before to my friends. but the only way you can stop something so unstoppable as that is to fight fire with fire. or, put more humorously, fight mites with more mites.

(lemon therapy is probably worth a shot, though)

 

How do you recommend cultivating mites? I have tons of springtails so I could imagine making a container of springtails and just adding stratiolaelaps to it?

[P0rcelain]

from my research, same way you would cultivate other small, earth dwelling insects. but you would want to ask someone who has actually done it.