89 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

I wish I had CO2...

 

Dry ice + water. Check on yelp, but you can get dry ice at a lot of liquor stores and grocery stores. Did that once to try to eradicate my orchids of mealybugs...

[Gregory2455]

I know, I have used dry ice a LOT in the past.  

[Gregory2455]

I have noticed that the worker was able to peel off most of the mites from the queen, but is not able to get them off herself. *The ultimate sacrifice*

[Gregory2455]

Umm... I have one last strategy. I think I will continuously cycle their test tubes,so new generations cannot hatch in time to get them, and the old ones will eventually just die of old age. 

HOW OFTEN WOULD I NEED TO CYCLE THEM? (How long does it take for a mite to hatch from an egg?)

[Gregory2455]

This may become a discontinued thread soon, as I have found mites in the test tube of my last queen with a worker, and mites ON an infertile queen.

[dspdrew]

Dry ice + water. Check on yelp, but you can get dry ice at a lot of liquor stores and grocery stores. Did that once to try to eradicate my orchids of mealybugs...

That works great on plants, considering plants breathe CO2, but CO2 will eradicate the ants as well as the mites living on them.

[Gregory2455]

My last healthy colony...

And its only brood item...

[Gregory2455]

Update: 12/22/2014

After eating the larva shown above, I am seeing eggs in my last healthy fertile queen's tube. As for the two queens remaining that are affected with mites, the mite treatment has been working, as I am seeing less and less mites on them.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 2/2/2015

My only healthy colony now has three new eggs!  

Also the two colonies with mites have lost almost all their mites after months of "ant therapy", and one of these colonies even has two eggs which may become larvae soon.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 2/23/2015

After eating the eggs in the last update, the queen of my single healthy colony laid a huge new clutch!

[Gregory2455]

Update: 3/17/2015

The egg pile of my only healthy colony of these is now at anywhere from 20-40 eggs! This is crazy, considering since I caught her, this queen has only made one worker (which is still alive and helping her).

Edited by Gregory2455, March 17 2015 - 6:32 PM.

[dspdrew]

That's awesome. I haven't had any successful ones from last year.

[Gregory2455]

Lets just see how many of these eggs get to become workers.

[Gregory2455]

In their massive egg pile, I see larvae now!

[AntLover101]

Update?

[Tpro4]

how long does it take for a pupa to enclose, my brother has had one for a week and is very anxious.

[Ants4fun]

It can take a while, depending on the species of coarse. It can take upwards of two weeks in some cases.

[Tpro4]

i meant of this species

[Gregory2455]

Update: 4/14/2015

The healthy colony has one pupating larva, a medium sized larva, a small one, and a huge egg pile.

 

The no longer mite infested ex-bejeweled queen lost her worker, but has some eggs...

 

 

I forget, but I think it takes 1-3 weeks for this species's pupae to eclose.

[Thomas_Nguyen2456]

how long does it take for p.rugous pupae to enclose