8 replies to this topic

[OhNoNotAgain]

So ... I had a small colony of ants who mysteriously slowly died off due to a string of either accidents or outright just dying for no apparent reason. They were also acting oddly, not grooming, not laying, not foraging. In a last ditch effort to save them, I moved them into a THA mini hearth. Where they died. A fungus that was breaking down dead fly corpses is now on the dead queen.

 

Now I have a mini hearth that I want to thoroughly clean and disinfect for obvious reasons.

 

Mack at THA has said some people have used vinegar, but vinegar by itself is not a great disinfectant. I have some craaaaaazy ideas for how to disinfect this thing, but I'm wondering if you guys have suggestions that have worked for you.

 

[BugFinder]

Terry Miller probably has some good ideas on this subject.   Is it possible to tag people here?

[Miles]

Please document the fungus with pictures. Is it yellow?

Edited by Miles, May 2 2020 - 9:12 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Please document the fungus with pictures. Is it yellow?

 

Well I think I've seen the same fungus growing on other fly corpses in another mini-hearth, and as a note this queen has now been through the freezer, but here ya go. Left with flash, right without flash.

 

[Zeiss]

Pretty common fungus found on dead queens.  It's some sort of Aspergillus sp.  You could sterilize with many things.  Diluted bleach, H2O2, alcohol, soapy water.  I really want to get some 30% peroxide (don't actually mess with this, it is a powerful oxidizer and can hurt you) and just rinse some enclosures out sometimes, haha.

[BugFinder]

I don't think the freezer will relably get the job done, but I think high heat would do the trick - 300 degrees for 30 minutes should kill anything.   Check with THA to see if the formicarium can survive that temp, and if not, what temp can it withstand and for how long.  I think if you get it up to at least 180 degrees for 20 minutes you should get the job done.   put it in the oven on a cookie sheet and steralize it.

Edited by BugFinder, May 3 2020 - 2:25 PM.

[Zeiss]

I don't think the freezer will relably get the job done, but I think high heat would do the trick - 300 degrees for 30 minutes should kill anything.   Check with THA to see if the formicarium can survive that temp, and if not, what temp can it withstand and for how long.  I think if you get it up to at least 180 degrees for 20 minutes you should get the job done.   put it in the oven on a cookie sheet and steralize it.

A lot of THA's formicaria are made with plastic that will almost definitely be messed up in heat.  I wouldn't suggest heating.

[BugFinder]

 

I don't think the freezer will relably get the job done, but I think high heat would do the trick - 300 degrees for 30 minutes should kill anything.   Check with THA to see if the formicarium can survive that temp, and if not, what temp can it withstand and for how long.  I think if you get it up to at least 180 degrees for 20 minutes you should get the job done.   put it in the oven on a cookie sheet and steralize it.

A lot of THA's formicaria are made with plastic that will almost definitely be messed up in heat.  I wouldn't suggest heating.

 

 

I would for sure contact THA and ask them about temperature tolerances, as I said above.  There has got to be a temperature/time you could heat it to achieve the sterliziation you are looking for without damaging the product.  

 

You could just dismiss heat, and struggle with this problem and lose colonies over it, or simply make a phone call and ask what the heat tolerance of the product is.   What does that really cost you?

[BugFinder]

I know it can be done, because I've done many volumetric heat treatments inside homes, and i don't damage anything, It turns out, heating to only 140 degrees for 3 hours kills all fungus and spores.   (people can survive that temperature without injury as long as they drink pleny of water and electrolytes).    https://www.thermapu...burge_paper.pdf

 

Its worth calling THA and asking if the product can withstand 140 degrees for 3 hours without damage.

Edited by BugFinder, May 3 2020 - 2:46 PM.