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Started By Vendayn , Mar 5 2015 3:43 PM

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#1 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 5 2015 - 3:43 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:10 PM.

#2 Offline Foogoo - Posted March 5 2015 - 6:12 PM

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Whoa nice. I have an orchid that came with an Argentine ant colony. Balanced a poison trap in the plant and took care of them.

 

Why don't you repot the plumeria? That'll give you a chance to give the colony a good shakedown.


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta

#3 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 5 2015 - 6:20 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#4 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 6 2015 - 12:22 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#5 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 6 2015 - 12:45 PM

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Wow that's horrible. If they are the same as the mites on the colony I had, as soon as they killed their hosts, they seemed to die off in about a day. Problem is, how do you get them off the ants. BTW, I tried putting one of my Veromessor pergandei queens in the freezer for 5 minutes and it was dead when I took it out. Why can't we hook some of the Argentine ants around here up these mites?


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#6 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 6 2015 - 12:49 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#7 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted March 6 2015 - 1:42 PM

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I would not want to give the argentine ants mites, as they would transfer it to native species as well...

#8 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 6 2015 - 1:57 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#9 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 6 2015 - 2:56 PM

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Well like I mentioned before, those mites seem to die pretty easily, and if you think about it, if they didn't there wouldn't be any insects left around here.


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#10 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 6 2015 - 3:07 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#11 Offline Foogoo - Posted March 6 2015 - 8:32 PM

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Does anyone know if the mites have natural predators? Do you think the predatory mites that eat spider mites would take care of these?


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta

#12 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 6 2015 - 9:00 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#13 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 6 2015 - 9:24 PM

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That is true. Just not sure why the mites seem to mostly target the Pheidole and not the other species.

 

I think my strategy will not be the freezer (I did it twice for 2 minutes, most of the workers lived...a lot of mites did too, though). But, I'll be putting the ants somewhere dry (maybe one single water source that dries up and I wet again. Cotton should work.) and letting the mites dry up. That worked for you, sort of...except the ants were already dead.

 

I notice these mites like it wet and humid, so maybe the opposite is what is needed.

 

The problem is they will be getting liquid from the hemolymph they are sucking out of the ants. So until the ants are dead, I don't think they're going to dry up and die.

 

 

Does anyone know if the mites have natural predators? Do you think the predatory mites that eat spider mites would take care of these?

 

Yeah supposedly some spider mites will eat other mites. David Gaban over on the Ants California Facebook group recommends using phytoseiulus persimilis or Hypoaspis miles, and says they can be found on these websites.

 

http://www.biconet.com/index.html

http://www.arbico-or...egory/top-picks

http://www.benemite.com/index.htm

 

He says these mites will eat any small mites they find.


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#14 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 7 2015 - 2:34 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

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#15 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 7 2015 - 7:21 PM

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Wow that's impressive. Unfortunately it only takes two live ones...


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#16 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 7 2015 - 7:34 PM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#17 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 8 2015 - 9:10 AM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#18 Offline Foogoo - Posted March 8 2015 - 9:13 AM

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Got a picture?

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#19 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 8 2015 - 9:16 AM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

#20 Offline Vendayn - Posted March 8 2015 - 9:35 AM

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Edited by Vendayn, March 9 2018 - 7:11 PM.

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