3 replies to this topic

[UtahAnts]

I volunteer at an entomology lab twice a week and I noticed while feeding some of the rhino beetles, Dynastes grantii, that some of them had white-brown mites moving quickly on them. These didn't appear to be parasitizing at all, like I've seen with other beetle mites in the lab. They also resemble Hypoaspus mites, but then again I wasn't using a microscope to ID.

 

I remember some obscure AntsCanada video about taking mites from a beetle to help with a mite problem. Does anyone remember what happened and if these could be used to predate on grain mites? I have an infestation in the outworld of one of my colonies, and I was wondering if using these mites as a natural predator of grain mites would work. I may just do a test run and isolate some grain mites and the new beetle mites and see what happens, but I'd love to hear from any beetle keepers if they know the type of mite I saw and if they are predatory?

[Ants_Dakota]

wish i just had an entomology lab around my neighborhood. Lucky!

Edited by Ants_Dakota, October 13 2022 - 5:39 AM.

[Zeiss]

Those mites are most likely hitching rides on the beetles and not harmful to them.

 

You could try to use them to control grain mites, although they most likely won't do much.  I also just don't like mites of any kind in my setups.  The best way to control grain mites is to make sure your feeders don't have any and to clean your ants' trash regularly.  Other than that, you'll have to desiccate your colony to dry all the mites out.  There are also booklice you can try to use to clean your outworld and they could out-compete the grain mites.

[bmb1bee]

Those mites are most likely hitching rides on the beetles and not harmful to them.

 

You could try to use them to control grain mites, although they most likely won't do much.  I also just don't like mites of any kind in my setups.  The best way to control grain mites is to make sure your feeders don't have any and to clean your ants' trash regularly.  Other than that, you'll have to desiccate your colony to dry all the mites out.  There are also booklice you can try to use to clean your outworld and they could out-compete the grain mites.

I think booklice are scavengers that could compete the grain mites, but would they be able to eat them? Just wondering if they'd eat mite eggs or hatchlings along with the detritus they normally consume. I'd rather have booklice than mites, since I could use them as feeders for small cryptics.