11 replies to this topic

[Connectimyrmex]

Hi.

I was feeding crickets to my ants and I noticed that the crickets all had mites. The cricket I gave to the ants didn't seem to have mites, though. Do you guys think that those mites might attack ants? Thanks!

[LC3]

We would need pictures to accurately tell, for all we know they could be debri mites hitching a ride.

Chances are that if the mites were located near the joins of the cricket vertically they could possibly be parasitic (Hard to tell the orientation of a mite without a close look). So unless the mites are parasitic they most likely wouldn't attack your ants.

 

Spoiler

P.S I'm not sure how the tagging system exactly works around here, but I suggest you not throw in random and useless tags for the sake of adding tags

Edited by LC3, January 13 2017 - 7:35 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

The crickets were covering the eyes and head of the cricket.

[dermy]

For safety I'd either freeze or boil the crickets before feeding them to your ants, you just never know. 

[Connectimyrmex]

I can't see any mites on my ants, but if there are some mites, should I feed my ants lemon?

[antgenius123]

I can't see any mites on my ants, but if there are some mites, should I feed my ants lemon?

Yep once they go near the lemon the you probably won't see the mites again. If it's the dangerous blood-sucking type you should probably do it sooner rather than later because colonies can die in a week or less because of some mites.

Edited by antgenius123, January 13 2017 - 11:25 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Maybe should I give oranges? I know they kind of hate sour stuff.

[benjiwuf]

let's start off with the fact that there are more species of mites than just parasitic (species a), and non parasitic (species b ). The honest truth is NOBODY knows how many species of mites, nor whether they are parasitic or not just by looking at them with our eyes. So, that being said I believe you should all start looking at mites as we all do with mold, bacteria, and yeasts. What works to kill one mite might not necessarily have any effect on the sister species, and could quite possibly cause a massive growth spurt for the entire culture of mites. I understand the argument "but it worked for Mikey Bustos". However, as stated before there are MORE THAN ONE TYPE of mite in this world. Now as for adding lemon, you can choose to try this method instead of just sitting idly by and waiting for one of two results. However think about this, the more things you introduce to your colony, the greater the changes of a bacterial infection, mold infection, chemical sterilization, or mite infestation. Ultimately if you want to really kill the mites use some chemical, and boil the entire setup. Unfortunately though you would be sacrificing you colony, but possibly removing the possibility for the mites could spread to your nearby colonies.

Edited by benjiwuf, January 13 2017 - 11:55 PM.

[Serafine]

I can't see any mites on my ants, but if there are some mites, should I feed my ants lemon?

You can put one into a corner of the outworld or a separate small container so the ants can use it if they need it. They will take a day (or some) to get used to it though.

[Connectimyrmex]

let's start off with the fact that there are more species of mites than just parasitic (species a), and non parasitic (species b ). The honest truth is NOBODY knows how many species of mites, nor whether they are parasitic or not just by looking at them with our eyes. So, that being said I believe you should all start looking at mites as we all do with mold, bacteria, and yeasts. What works to kill one mite might not necessarily have any effect on the sister species, and could quite possibly cause a massive growth spurt for the entire culture of mites. I understand the argument "but it worked for Mikey Bustos". However, as stated before there are MORE THAN ONE TYPE of mite in this world. Now as for adding lemon, you can choose to try this method instead of just sitting idly by and waiting for one of two results. However think about this, the more things you introduce to your colony, the greater the changes of a bacterial infection, mold infection, chemical sterilization, or mite infestation. Ultimately if you want to really kill the mites use some chemical, and boil the entire setup. Unfortunately though you would be sacrificing you colony, but possibly removing the possibility for the mites could spread to your nearby colonies.

I just checked Mikey Bustos's channel and I learned that his YCA had mites. Interesting...

I don't think I will need to add citrus because I can't see any mites on my ants. If I do see some, I will definitely add citrus.

Edited by Hawaiiant, January 14 2017 - 10:56 AM.

[Socalfireants]

Lemon doesn't work guys. The mites will stay. I've seen several occurrences where lemon did nothing. 

 

 

I can't see any mites on my ants, but if there are some mites, should I feed my ants lemon?

Yep once they go near the lemon the you probably won't see the mites again. If it's the dangerous blood-sucking type you should probably do it sooner rather than later because colonies can die in a week or less because of some mites.

 

[Serafine]

I just checked Mikey Bustos's channel and I learned that his YCA had mites. Interesting...
I don't think I will need to add citrus because I can't see any mites on my ants. If I do see some, I will definitely add citrus.

Yes but those mites didn't hurt his ants, they just used them as lift to get from one place to another - the nymphs that were attached to the YCA didn't even have mouths or anuses. And the citrus fruits didn't help much, if these had been harmful mites the entire colony would be dead by now.

Edited by Serafine, March 10 2017 - 8:50 AM.