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Mites in my fruit fly culture


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21 replies to this topic

#1 Offline DDD101DDD - Posted March 1 2021 - 2:15 PM

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So, I took a closer look at my fruit fly culture and noticed a ton of mites. How do I get rid of them, is there anything I should do to my ant colonies? They're very close to each other, so I'm afraid of the mites getting in to them. What should I do to prevent this in the future? Thanks in advance.


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#2 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 1 2021 - 2:21 PM

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I had this problem as well. Are they on the medium, and are the mites very pale?

 

As soon as I saw the mites I went full nuclear and threw the entire culture in the outside trash. that's personally what I would advise, and not sure how to prevent this in the future, especially if the flies are bought. Possibly just take flies out of the culture in the future, and breed those separately, to hopefully avoid the mite problem?


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 


#3 Offline DDD101DDD - Posted March 1 2021 - 2:27 PM

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Here are pictures of the mites, yes they are pale, yes they are on the medium.
S20210301 0004
P3010929

 

Do you think they will spread to my ant colonies?


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#4 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 1 2021 - 2:32 PM

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Do you see any on the flies? If not, and it appears as though they can't get out of the culture, then probably not. I'm just paranoid about that stuff, hence me throwing out my culture.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 


#5 Offline DDD101DDD - Posted March 1 2021 - 2:37 PM

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Do you see any on the flies? If not, and it appears as though they can't get out of the culture, then probably not. I'm just paranoid about that stuff, hence me throwing out my culture.

Oh, I didn't bother checking the flies. I just threw it out a few minutes ago. But I did see quite a few mites on the lid.
 


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#6 Offline gs5248 - Posted March 1 2021 - 6:42 PM

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You can get some diatamacous   Earth and put a circle of it around your fruit fly cultures. I is very effective since it physically cuts the mites' exoskeletons.


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#7 Offline BugFinder - Posted March 1 2021 - 7:42 PM

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You can get some diatamacous   Earth and put a circle of it around your fruit fly cultures. I is very effective since it physically cuts the mites' exoskeletons.

 

Be careful when handling DE.  You will want to wear a respirator when handling it, and only apply it to places where it's not exposed, like in wall voids.   Always read and obey the label of any pesticide you are using before you use it.


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“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

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Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

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#8 Offline AntaholicAnonymous - Posted March 2 2021 - 5:09 AM

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All of the fruit flies I had got them after a while.
If they are the same as the ones I had they do no harm to the ants, mine were not blood sucking and I fed the flies regardless of the mites.

Throwing them outside is always the safer option and that's what I'd suggest you do unless you can ID them but if you don't see them attached to the flies themselves chances are they are not parasitic.
I have soil setups so I'm always down to introduce beneficial mites that's why I still dumped them in with no bad effects even years after I introduced them
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#9 Offline Temperateants - Posted March 2 2021 - 12:42 PM

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I know mites cause cultures to crash, but is it possible to harvest any flies left and put them in boiling water? It seems kind of risky, but can mites survive boiling water?


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#10 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 2 2021 - 1:03 PM

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Mites cannot survive boiling water. One could absolutely harvest the flies by freezing them and boiling them as needed.
This thread illustrates why I don’t do fruit flies anymore for my colonies. Even if the mites are harmless, having tens of thousands of them all over your setups is really annoying and frankly disgusting.
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#11 Offline antsandmore - Posted March 2 2021 - 3:34 PM

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Mites cannot survive boiling water. One could absolutely harvest the flies by freezing them and boiling them as needed.
This thread illustrates why I don’t do fruit flies anymore for my colonies. Even if the mites are harmless, having tens of thousands of them all over your setups is really annoying and frankly disgusting.

this is true. they get all over your setups and crawl around. 


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Ants I am keeping:

 none for now, planning on being more active this year


#12 Offline AntaholicAnonymous - Posted March 2 2021 - 4:10 PM

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I wonder why my setup didn't get infested really.

I guess the outside soil might've introduced predatory mites or something that keep the balance.
I have some mites in the soil but a big variety in fairly low numbers.

#13 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 2 2021 - 4:29 PM

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I wonder why my setup didn't get infested really.

I guess the outside soil might've introduced predatory mites or something that keep the balance.
I have some mites in the soil but a big variety in fairly low numbers.

You have a more balanced ecosystem. The trash mites really explode when there is no other competition and no controls.
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Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#14 Offline smares - Posted March 7 2021 - 1:30 AM

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Could be grain mites. I've had an issue with these for a while and I haven't been able to get rid of them. I have seen them infect my starting ant colonies and make them crash, I suspect they were eating the eggs.

#15 Offline jgoogz - Posted March 7 2021 - 3:06 AM

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Agreed with people in here. Mites are gross.

I’d start a new culture and use cotton to breathe it to prevent mites.

Fruitflies are just such good food for nearly all species.


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#16 Offline OhNoNotAgain - Posted March 7 2021 - 11:15 AM

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The only time I salvaged fruit flies from grain mites is one time when I rinsed off larvae ONE BY ONE in running water.

Unfortunately that colony died off a few generations later.

 

Now I COOK all my fruit flies (freeze then briefly boil). It's not worth the annoyance of grain mite infestations. The mite eggs stick to queens and brood and are nearly impossible to get rid of. It's a pity as fraggles love chasing and hunting ff.

 

P.S. I freeze all fruit fly bins contaminated with mites before chucking, hoping that will kill them. I would hate contributing to invasive mites spreading where they don't belong....


Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 7 2021 - 11:18 AM.

Formiculture Journals::

Veromessor pergandei, andrei; Novomessor cockerelli

Camponotus fragilis; also separate journal: Camponotus sansabeanus (inactive), vicinus, laevigatus/quercicola

Liometopum occidentale;  Prenolepis imparis; Myrmecocystus mexicanus (inactive)

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus and californicus (inactive)

Tetramorium sp.

Termites: Zootermopsis angusticollis

 

Isopods: A. gestroi, granulatum, kluugi, maculatum, vulgare; C. murina; P. hoffmannseggi, P. haasi, P. ornatus; V. parvus

Spoods: Phidippus sp.


#17 Offline Chickalo - Posted March 7 2021 - 11:31 AM

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Mites in bunches give me the creeps.  I would throw it away, too, just to be safe. 


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シグナチャーです。예.

 


#18 Offline Chickalo - Posted March 9 2021 - 3:40 PM

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Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place?  I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.


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シグナチャーです。예.

 


#19 Offline jgoogz - Posted March 9 2021 - 3:46 PM

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Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place? I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.


If you smack the side of whatever container they’re in they just fall to the bottom. If you poor them into a nice tall container, you have plenty of time to do whatever action you need before you gotta give it a lil smack.

If you smack it a lot they essential become fluid and you can poor them out of a corner of whatever container.

Best feeder insect ever.


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Whatever you are, be a good one.


#20 Offline Chickalo - Posted March 9 2021 - 3:50 PM

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Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place? I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.


If you smack the side of whatever container they’re in they just fall to the bottom. If you poor them into a nice tall container, you have plenty of time to do whatever action you need before you gotta give it a lil smack.

If you smack it a lot they essential become fluid and you can poor them out of a corner of whatever container.

Best feeder insect ever.


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I'll make sure to smack the sides of a fruit fly colony next time I take a visit to Petco, thanks!


シグナチャーです。예.

 





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