6 replies to this topic

[AnthonyP163]

This is my journal about my microorganisms and decomposers, such as mites, springtails, isopods, and more stuff like fungi and bacteria.

 

Let's start with the pictures.

 

These two pictures are of my springtail cultures that I purchased in July.

This picture below is a terrible picture of an aphid on a leaf, however it's pretty much a black dot.

 

 

 

These are the videos, which are much better quality.

 

 

Here is the montage of most of my setups with microorganisms, including leaf litter in vivariums, ant vivariums, springtail containers, and some random setups.

 

https://www.youtube...._id=yI1YzhXoOjw

 

 

OH MY GOSH!! I'm so happy! That was a predatory mite. I see them all the time, however, they're so fast that I never catch them on camera, and now I have! In this terrarium, there is Tetramorium, worms, springtails, isopods, and mites. It's perfect. I introduced the predatory mites a few months ago, and they are thriving.

 

 

 

 

[AnthonyP163]

Update 2-26-2018

 

It hit 50 degrees Fahrenheit in Wisconsin today, and I went to the forest. I managed to collect a good amount of new species, and tried to get multiple so they could reproduce. Getting multiple was very difficult! Sometimes I had to search all over to find a match, it's like a puzzle with tens of thousands of possibilities. I think most of the mites I got are predatory, so I added them to a container with about 30  Folsoma candida  as food. Keep in mind that some of these I have never seen before today.

 

 

3 new species of mites, 2 new species of springtails. 

 

EDIT: Those springtails are absolutely huge.

Edited by AnthonyP163, February 26 2018 - 5:34 PM.

[T.C.]

Wasn't it great? Gonna be even nicer tommorrow. I seen a bunch of geese flying over today, spring is here!

Where'd you buy the springtails?

[dermy]

You should try your hand at Vermicomposting if you can get the right kind of worms for it [don't use normal garden worms it won't work with those you need the ones that are surface dwelling worms like Red Wigglers] it's a really good way to get rid of vegetable scraps and stuff.

Assuming you do it right you also end up with a rich ecosystem of microbes, springtails, woodlice and other critters.

[AnthonyP163]

Wasn't it great? Gonna be even nicer tommorrow. I seen a bunch of geese flying over today, spring is here!

Where'd you buy the springtails?

Yeah, it hit 58 here on the 27th!

 

 

You should try your hand at Vermicomposting if you can get the right kind of worms for it [don't use normal garden worms it won't work with those you need the ones that are surface dwelling worms like Red Wigglers] it's a really good way to get rid of vegetable scraps and stuff.

Assuming you do it right you also end up with a rich ecosystem of microbes, springtails, woodlice and other critters.

I know all about those, they're my favorite! I hope to get some in the next few months. I did a whole project on vermicomposting.

The springtails in the previous update seem to have changed colors, making me think that they have molted or something. their previous yellow shade is now gone and replaced with a silver-blue color.

[AnthonyP163]

The color changing springtails are either good at hiding or have died and gotten eaten, as they are nowhere to be found. 

 

I got a 48 pack of 12 ounce containers, so I can divide my species into different setups now.

[AnthonyP163]

8-14-18

 

I'm currently keeping two species of springtails, Pseudosinella sp. and Lepidocyrtus cinereus.

 

I'm doing lots of research, and I'll go in depth into it in the next update.

 

Here's a picture of my culture containers.

 

Here's a picture of some Lepidocyrtus 

 

 

Here's my largest 1-year-old Pseudosinella culture

 

Here's a ton of Lepidocyrtus