32 replies to this topic

[CatsnAnts]

I need help!

About a week ago, I noticed that one of my four Strumigenys pilinasis colonies was having some sort of mold outbreak that was killing all of the brood, not the live workers. Fast forward two days, and the rest of my S. pilinasis colonies are now struggling with this same mold issue, but thankfully my S. cf. clypeata colony has seemingly been contained from this mold. Since I didn’t know what to do, and all of my S. pilinasis colonies seemed to be on the decline, I attempted to merge them in hoping that their strength would be in numbers. Now I have an extremely large colony of S. pilinasis with about 20 queens and over 100 workers that are getting along great, but the mold just never stops. Every time an egg makes it to larvae or pupae, they simply succumb to the mold and die. What can I do to stop this nightmare?




This whole spot used to be filled to the brim with pupae:


Luckily, the queens are busy laying eggs, and I have a good supply of springtails to feed them now, so if this problem can be solved they should be able to recover.

Edited by CatsnAnts, August 8 2020 - 8:16 AM.

[BlueLance213]

I think you need to find out where the mould is coming from, Might have been easier to find out by keeping the colonies separate and using process of elimination to find out the source.

 

Is there anything you share with one of the colonies that you shared with them all but not with your other species? Like a food or sugar source that might have been contaminated, or its possible that the humidity is different in the other colony and that's why it never got it. Sadly I don't have any experience with mould identification past changing tubes etc.

[CatsnAnts]

I think you need to find out where the mould is coming from, Might have been easier to find out by keeping the colonies separate and using process of elimination to find out the source.

Is there anything you share with one of the colonies that you shared with them all but not with your other species? Like a food or sugar source that might have been contaminated, or its possible that the humidity is different in the other colony and that's why it never got it. Sadly I don't have any experience with mould identification past changing tubes etc.

I know for a fact which colony it started in, but I didn’t realize it was a problem/what it was until it had already spread to my other colonies. I only merged them after I already knew they were all contaminated with the same mold. I do have a sneaking suspicion that one of my wild-caught springtails may have introduced the mold into their setup, as that’s the only thing that goes into their setup. When I opened the lids, the mold may have spread since I check on my colonies in groups (by species, so I checked on all of the S. pilinasis at one time by opening their lids on their Petri dishes to allow for some fresh air, and the S. clypeata at another which is probably why they haven’t been infected yet).

Edited by CatsnAnts, August 4 2020 - 5:19 PM.

[BlueLance213]

Well the good news is that not everything has been affected, hopefully it stays that way. But as for getting rid of the mould that is currently the problem I am not sure what you can do that will not harm the ants. Hopefully someone else will have had a similar out break and found a solution, or at least have a viable solution to try!

[CatsnAnts]

I’m wondering if I can use a spray of some sort that would be safe for ants, but also kill the mold? Some ideas would be an extra diluted hydrogen-peroxide mixture, some sort of enzyme spray, vinegar and baking soda, etc.?

[BlueLance213]

Definently not soap water... sadly I have no idea how much if an impact any of those would have on ants, somethings might work but at the cost of brood, but considerimg how the brood are already dying it isn't a huge setback. I'm hinestly surprised though since ants usually have good sense and can clean thus sorta thing normally.

[Croux]

Can you get a springtail culture or similar culture of detrivores? Or is it really so bad you need some immediate remediation?

[BlueLance213]

I think they already have springtails in there, or they are using them as food, but spring tails could help if they are only being used as a food source, They help clean up ants left-overs etc but they might also eat the infected larva etc. Could you clarify CatsandAnts?

[CatsnAnts]

I actually started a springtail culture a few weeks ago, and it is just now producing enough that I can begin to use it. I wasn’t expecting to get Strumigenys colonies so soon, so I was forced to use wild springtails. Hopefully, if there is a way to kill this mold, it won’t come back. I’ll also be using a dehumidifier in that room to prevent it from being in the air.

As far to the severity of the situation, it’s pretty bad. This colony had upwards of 100 larvae and pupae yesterday, and today, about 90% is dead from the mold.

[CatsnAnts]

And to clarify, Strumigenys are very food-specific and only eat springtails as a food source, so they will always get eaten before they have the chance to eat the mold.

Edit: spelling, gosh dang it autocorrect

Edited by CatsnAnts, August 4 2020 - 6:05 PM.

[BlueLance213]

Oh boy, if they literally need to eat them then yeah... sppringtails aint really gonna help, Possibly another species that does the same job that they don't eat might work, but trying to get something would be pretty difficult at short notice. I doubt throwing all of them in would solve the problem either. 

[ANTdrew]

Sorry to hear all this. Some things you could try:
-Increasing ventilation in the set up
-buying a large culture of springtails to try overwhelming the mold before they get eaten.
-try isopods, millipedes, or woodlice
-chamomile tea has strong anti-fungal properties
-capsaicin from peppers is also a strong anti-fungal (not sure if these botanicals would harm ants, too)

[CatsnAnts]

Sorry to hear all this. Some things you could try:
-Increasing ventilation in the set up
-buying a large culture of springtails to try overwhelming the mold before they get eaten.
-try isopods, millipedes, or woodlice
-chamomile tea has strong anti-fungal properties
-capsaicin from peppers is also a strong anti-fungal (not sure if these botanicals would harm ants, too)

Oh my gosh thank you! I will most definitely be looking into some of these solutions!

[BlueLance213]

Thanks ANTdrew, I will keep this those in mind for if I ever have that problem, Fingers crossed they work!!!

[ponerinecat]

I've used hydrogen peroxide in the past, but that was on outbreaks in the outworld, not directly on the ants. perhaps isolate the brood (seems to be mostly pupae) and try to treat them away from the colony?

[ponerinecat]

Isopods and millipedes will most likely not work. They actually tend to avoid molds and may just straight up chew on the brood itself. Woodlice in particular love meat. Springtails may be a good choice. If you can try to find some wood dwelling Lepidocrytus, small metallic springtails. I find they destroy molds and fungus.

[SuperFrank]

Begin looking for antifungals that are not known to be toxic to insects. I have used
clotrimazole, in the form of dollar store athletes foot cream, as an antifungal in fruit fly cultures who's flies I then fed to ants of many species. Both the flies and the ants were fine.

Copper has antimicrobial properties, as do the various metals that are made with it (brass, bronze, etc).

Copper sulfate is a widely used antifungal as well but i am less sure about its safety

[AntsMaryland]

Just saw this article: https://www.sciencem...drogen-peroxide

 

Not sure how reputable it is, but it's definitely interesting. 

Edited by AntsMaryland, August 5 2020 - 4:59 AM.

[CatsnAnts]

Just saw this article: https://www.sciencem...drogen-peroxide

Not sure how reputable it is, but it's definitely interesting.

It seems like peroxide is the way to go! This is a curious subject, maybe I should give them the option just like this article?

[ponerinecat]

 

Just saw this article: https://www.sciencem...drogen-peroxide

Not sure how reputable it is, but it's definitely interesting.

It seems like peroxide is the way to go! This is a curious subject, maybe I should give them the option just like this article?

 

Perhaps, although that seems like it was more of self regulation. Not sure if it would help the brood, unless the substance were to be fed to the brood. Also have to take into account that these are strumigenys. They likely won't take honey, you may have to find a way to apply it to prey items.