Mites!

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Mites!

Beitragvon 35016 » 5. Nov 2017 13:11

Hi all

I have a colony of Camponotus largiceps which I am about to hibernate.

However, I noticed tiny white mites on the worker ants. I have read that there is really not much I can do about this. However, some mites are harmful, and others not. How do I determine if the mites are harmful? These are very white, round, and fat.
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon HarryAnt » 5. Nov 2017 13:39

Best what u can do in my opinion is make a high def Picture of the mites and post here or look on them with a good Hand magnifier and check Pictures of different mites in Internet.
Most kinds only use the ants to ride on them so no Panic till you know more.


Mites like / need it hot and wet so if possible try to reduce the temperaure and the humidification as much as agreeable for the colony. And also keep the formicarium clean.

You can also try "Vita Biosa" in the drink spot - just mix some Drops in Container with water.
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon 35016 » 5. Nov 2017 14:00

Thanks very much for the response.

I will try and take a picture when I get home. Not sure if I have a high enough definition camera.

It seems unlikely that I would get a parasitic mite in Scotland (I live in Scotland) for a Chinese species of ant, unless they came with the ants.
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon baumarkthammer » 5. Nov 2017 16:26

Yes you might think that european mites shouldn't be able to harass exotic species. Unfortunetly it isn't true.
The mites our ants get are rather opportunistic mites that can be found on other insects aswell.
Also exotic species are less adapt to fighting foreign species of parasite.
Even mites and other small organisms like springtails can be bad for the development of a colony even if not directly harmfull to the ants. They are just a niusance.

I would agree with HarryAnts supposed method.

Regards,
Kaj.
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon Danzel_From_Russia » 5. Nov 2017 16:44

In Russia we have Predatot Mite teraphy.We catch or buy Mite-Predator who kills all parasites.You can try to find them in your forest
The scientificname of this mite is Hypoaspis Miles
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon 35016 » 5. Nov 2017 17:12

Thanks for the responses!

I am waiting for my workers to emerge to try and get a good photo, but they are very slow as I have turned the temperature down to hibernate them.

I actually added springtails thinking they would keep everything clean. I guess that was a poor decision!

I have considered getting Hypoaspis Miles, but have been hesistant. Not sure if this is the best thing to do.

Thanks for all the responses though!
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon Danzel_From_Russia » 5. Nov 2017 18:33

And if you keep your ants in test tube springtails are useless.They need substratum,also it kinda hard.But Viktor Kozhaev(In Russia he is one of most authoritative keepers) said in that photo
Dateianhänge
g3js3TsTOFY.jpg
Viktor:
If in substratum will be balance both collembolas and mites go together
Mites eat Springtails but they reproduce and everyone is happy)
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Re: Mites!

Beitragvon baumarkthammer » 5. Nov 2017 19:59

Yes I expressed myself poorly, sorry I am mostly posting by selfphone at the moment.
What I wanted to say was that a huge amount of springtails can be harmful. When every millimeter of nest is plastered with them, then they annoy the ants. In moderate amounts they are helpfull in getting rid of mould, fungi and some dirt.

About the predatory mites: I know of several experiments that have proven that two predatory mites do in fact not help ants get rid of mites. The ants are very efficient in cleaning the predatory mites off of themselfs.
However there are many predatory mites sold and I think that the ones tried were mostly mites used to balance microorganisms in greenhouses and one used for bees.
If anybody has any better data, I would be happy to hear it!

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Kaj.
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