19 replies to this topic

[Leo]

hi!

 

I dug up a pheidole colony a while ago and they were fine, until today when i saw a mite on one of the queens I'm scared for their well being any suggestions for removal?

[Alabama Anter]

hi!

I dug up a pheidole colony a while ago and they were fine, until today when i saw a mite on one of the queens I'm scared for their well being any suggestions for removal?

Some mites are harmless food mites, and some mites are blood suckers! Pictures will help to ID what kind of mites they are!
Cheers

[AnthonyP163]

Sometimes their grip isn't very good. I would set up a microscope, get the mite off, and crush it. A small needle might do, but be VERY careful. If you see any others, kill them ASAP, you don't want them breeding in there.

[Batspiderfish]

Wild ants have mites and have ways to deal with the mites (in their natural habitat), another reason why taking a mature colony out of the wild and putting them in captivity is not encouraged by experienced ant keepers.

[Leo]

well, i can't find the mite anymore, hope it is gone

[dspdrew]

I had parasitic mites on a few queens/colonies. Some were bored into the queens between the segments of their exoskeleton, and some were walking around all over the ants. The ones that were not bored in, killed the whole colony within a day. The ones bored into the queens I managed to remove, but a lot of those queens died within a week or so.

 

 

Edited by dspdrew, December 23 2016 - 7:39 AM.
Added images of the two parasitic mite infestations

[spider_creations]

Predatory mites might work, depending on the kind of predatory mites they only kill the bad mites and shouldn't harm the ants although they might eat the spring tails if you have any in the colony.

[Leo]

nope no springtails

[drtrmiller]

Be aware that there are detritivorous mites that eat decaying matter and are not harmful to ants. Small ants will even eat larger, soft-bodied mites.



Parasitic mites are highly specialized, and not too commonly encountered in a captive colony, except when other organisms, or an established colony itself, originated from nature. If the mites you're observing are on the ants themselves, there is a chance they could be parasitic; however, sometimes the mites will just go away over time.

Often, parasitic mites thrive when conditions for the ants are poor—too much or too little heat or moisture. Because mites are usually far more tolerant to environmental changes than ants, there is no known remedy or cure for ants parasitized by mites. At best, you will find many poorly educated guesses as to how to get rid of them.

A textbook I bought goes into the subject in some detail. From skimming, I learned that a well-adapted parasitic mite will not kill its host. The very worst parasitic mites, as they relate to ants, do feed from the ants—and the ants don't react to the mites because of "tasty secretions" that the mites produce—but as long as the colony is generally healthy, otherwise, the presence of a small number of mites should not mean colony collapse.

One way mites may be detrimental is when they group together in hoards and hinder the movement of the insect. That, from what I read, is very bad. Some mites also position themselves around the mouth of ants and inhibit trophallaxis. Other mites are particularly well adapted, and actually mimic certain body parts of their hosts, such as Macrocheles rettenmeyeri, which inserts its mouthpart into the hind leg of a particular army ants, and in doing so, becomes the ant's functional "claw."

Mites are quite frequently found cohabiting with ants in nature, and one of the most attractive genera to mites, is, strangely enough, Lasius.

Like I said, I just barely briefly skimmed a few relevant sections from the book, and I don't even remember everything I read, the writing was so taxonomically and anatomically dense. The point is, don't freak out! If it makes you feel any better, Mikey is probably working on an Ants Canada video production about mites, just now as we speak.

Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour (David Walter | Heather Proctor)

http://amzn.to/2cc2cEF

[dspdrew]

I just added images to my previous post showing the two definite parasitic mite infestations my ants experienced.

[Shareallicu]

I just watched an AntsCanada video about how lemon slices placed in the outworld, helped clear up the mites.  The research is still ongoing though, but you could try putting a slice of lemon in your outworld, and watch them.  At first they avoided it, but eventually the ants put their food on it.  The guess was that the citrus helped relieve the ants from the irritation of the mites, but like I said, the research is still ongoing, so if you try it, just make sure you keep an eye on your ants.

[Vendayn]

I remember mites Drew had, from the colony of Pheidole megacephala I gave him. Didn't even see any when I gave them to him (or I wouldn't have done so), and then suddenly they exploded in population out of nowhere.

 

The second Pheidole megacephala colony had the same issue. I was keeping them and about 3 months in, suddenly there was a huge explosion of mites all over, and I never even gave them outside food.

 

Third attempt at Pheidole megacephala colony. Same thing. And I was extra careful about any food with mites. About three months in (again), a huge population of mites appeared in their setup. 

 

Even baked the dirt the second and third times, so it wasn't that.

 

Fourth colony of Pheidole megacephala, I found in a different part of the apartment complex and finally had no mite problems. But I put them in the freezer.

 

Most mites are harmless as said though, its pretty rare to actually get parasitic mites. I have grain mites in my Pogonomyrmex rugosus colony, because guess the oats we had were infested with them. They never bother the workers, and just clean up the trash. I tried cleaning them out, because there were thousands of grain mites. However, they just populated again. Kind of annoying how fast the grain mites populate, but at least they don't bother the workers. There are booklice in there too, which pretty sure I've seen them eating some of the grain mites.

Edited by Vendayn, January 1 2017 - 4:59 PM.

[Leo]

i saw a worker carrying a smushed mite between her mandibles, only three left, they are wandering in the outworld

[Mdrogun]

I would imagine that ants in the wild have a way of keeping mite populations low otherwise like Vendayn experienced the mites would kill the ants off. It might be that the ants can recognize that they have mites and are attracted to things that will kill them like citrus fruits for example. I'm sure someday we'll figure out what ants in the wild do.

[Serafine]

I'd try adding some citrus fruits, like lemons (in fact I think adding a small chamber with a citrus fruit inside is generally a good idea even if a colony doesn't have mites).

[drtrmiller]

I'd try adding some citrus fruits, like lemons (in fact I think adding a small chamber with a citrus fruit inside is generally a good idea even if a colony doesn't have mites).

The compound d-limonene, present in citrus oil and used in many citrus-scented cleaners and degreasers, is actually a potent insect repellant, similar to your various mint oils. A tiny drop off the stuff, and ants will evacuate and avoid that area and anything contaminated by it, even abandoning brood. I would speculate that it interferes with the ants' sense of smell.

My point, is that it's important to be cautious and to use such things sparingly and in a well-ventilated area, probably not inside a nest.

Edited by drtrmiller, January 2 2017 - 5:37 AM.

[Serafine]

Actually I was talking about a small chamber within the setup, probably separated by at least meter of tube from the rest of the formicariums and outworlds. Basically an offer so the ants can use it when they need it (to clean stuff or themselves).

[BMM]

Actually I was talking about a small chamber within the setup, probably separated by at least meter of tube from the rest of the formicariums and outworlds. Basically an offer so the ants can use it when they need it (to clean stuff or themselves).

 

I was thinking the same thing. It'd be interesting to see someone try it and see how the ants react. My guess is that they would probably get used to it after a little while.

[Serafine]

I can tell you in 4-8 weeks when my AntKit order has arrived and my Colony has gotten over it's semi-hibernation-diapause phase.

 

Though they will be just about 10-15 ants then, so I'm not sure if they will even travel far enough through the setup to find the lemon.

I'll also put the lemon into a modified box for 125 gram butter pieces so the smell stays a bit more contained, in case 1m of tubing isn't enough.

Edited by Serafine, January 2 2017 - 12:53 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

I'd try adding some citrus fruits, like lemons (in fact I think adding a small chamber with a citrus fruit inside is generally a good idea even if a colony doesn't have mites).

I hear they like to rub the mites off onto the lemon, a more probable explanation is that the mites don't like the fruit.