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Thanks for that, I think i'm going to try Hypoaspis though, as said i'll experiment before they go in the tank though. I read they only stay around the top 1/2" of soil so hopefully if they go in too many wont enter the nest. Any idea what the parasitic mites are like for spreading? Outside of the ants setup I mean, I have a reptile shed with lots of other inverts and would hate for it to spread to them!
This may sound strange too but if the mites are feeding off of the ants is there anything you can feed the ants to 'poison' or kill the mites without harming the ants?
No doubt someone someday will invent a solution. Mites are supposed to dislike citrus. Perhaps dab some on your soldier, but i need to write a disclaimer first before you try :)
I just gave a light spray of lemon juice over the soldier, may aswell test it with the state the soldier is in :p Any idea of how long it should take to work? I'm starting to think more about the Hypoaspis now aswell, I really don't know what to do. The shop I buy Hypoaspis from has shut now until the 6th anyway. I also think this soldier must've become infested like this over night as all the soldiers were foraging yesterday and looked fine. I hate to think whether the queen is infested like this......
Tried it diluted and nothing, tried it neat and nothing again :p Also decided to pick a random worker out and it was covered aswell, still working though. The annoying thing is the nest has a new tunnel leading to the foraging area, would have liked to see this colony grow. Also i'm not sure if I stated in any of my posts but this was my first colony. I don't want this to put me off keeping ants but there just seems nothing that can be done about this :/
Have you tried this????
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?f=218&t=13828&start=0
This species is hard to keep and not really ideal as a first colony. Your biggest problem now is your set up. With all the soil you will find it difficult to get rid of the mites.
Thanks for that Bugsy, I didn't know about that. I'll try get hold of some fast and i've been advised by the seller to just dig the queen and brood out of the nest. I'll update soon.....
I have some A. Cucumeris on the way, similar to H. Miles I have heard but consume less and are alot cheaper than H. Miles but the shop didn't have H. Miles anyway. :p They come in a sachet and release over a number of weeks, used for eating thrips and other things, mites shouldn't be a problem for them. The person I spoke too told me they have had snake keepers buy A. Cucumeris from them to treat snake mites and have had a good outcome from using them so I hope they will work on these mites too. I was worried about maybe the ants eggs being attacked but i'm not too worried about this now, they dwell on the top of soil so that shouldn't be a problem, although I do hope if they work they enter the nest to kill the bad mites off as I have no idea what condition the queen is in. I'll update how it goes tomorrow.
Got my A. Cucumeris today. They are starting to release from the sachets, I put two sachets in the setup, one near the nest entrance and one near the foraging area. I don't believe they will harm the ants in any way but believe they will have some kind of effect on the parasitic mites. So far in the last two days, i've lost one soldier and three workers to the parasitic mites (That I know about). All the ants seem to working as usual, foraging and digging. However I have noticed there seems to be less ants foraging and the bad thing is I was never able to find their rubbish pile.
Keep us updated on the mite situation, I hope you get it sorted and your colony does well!
Pheidologeton diversus are notoriously hard to keep, they have such a high development rate because the workers only live a few weeks, and they seem to be very sensitive to environmental conditions, even when they have a few thousand workers.
I would never recommend them as a first species and I wouldn't want this experience to put you off, I have kept many many species but I fell flat on my face with the diversus and I have no real inclination to try again... lol
Most ant species are much easier to keep than diversus, and in the long run the diversus would need a massive nest and a massive amount of food, I don't think most people even have the ability to keep a mature colony in captivity!
When I first started keeping ants I went a bit overboard and tried my hand at lots of species at once and I bought 'cool' ants without really considering whether they were suitable, a few of those experiences kind of put me off but at the end of the day it was a learning experience!
Anyway, best of luck with your colony Frogger!