10 replies to this topic

[DDD101DDD]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew how bad grain mites actually are? I noticed a lot on my fruit fly culture that just started breeding(It's the one from my journal, just a bit ago I put fruit flies from my old culture into it but that's not important), and it would be a pain to have to throw away. It's not as if any of my ants eat grains anyway.

[Queen]

Define "bad".

Will they hurt your ants? No

Will they eat your ants trash? Yes

 

I personally find them annoying as they reproduce rather quickly and can get out of hand (not to mention they get outside of the nest and can infest other things in your home as well). So to me they are bad. I do whatever it takes to get rid of them.

[ANTdrew]

I think they’re terrible, personally. You could still use the fruit flies, though, if you freeze and flash boil them before feeding.

[AntsMaryland]

One of the main problems with grain mites (when there are too many) in fruit fly cultures is that they outcompete the fruit fly larvae. 

[DDD101DDD]

Alright, I guess I'll need to get rid of my fruit flies, thanks for the help guys.

[GreekAnts]

Alright, I guess I'll need to get rid of my fruit flies, thanks for the help guys.

I would try to take some clean ones and start a new colony, if you put them in vinegar somehow, can it kill the mites? sorry if my question is stupid.

[ExponentMars]

I had grain mites for a while - as far as I know they don't hurt the ants, they are just very annoying and make the glass look dirty. 

[ExponentMars]

I think they’re terrible, personally. You could still use the fruit flies, though, if you freeze and flash boil them before feeding.

ohhhh so THAT'S where all those mites came from! well to say the least I ain't ever feeding my ants fruit flies again lol 

[ANTdrew]

Yes, that’s why I stopped feeding fruit flies.

[smares]

Personally I found that they have a big effect on founding queens. I am pretty sure they eat the eggs of the queen and they eat the sugar water and dead bugs I offer also. They reproduce fast and even when I try to clean them out by transferring to a new test tube they soon cover everything again, including the queen! I got some mites on amazing that eat them! I can't remember what they were called but I can look if you want. I haven't seen a mite since then!

[ConcordAntman]

Search the forum threads for predatory mites and you might find more information. It seems to me though, if you’re getting predatory mites to eat the grain mites you didn’t want your colony to have in the first place that you just might have too many mites It might be simpler to avoid introducing mites into your colony’s ecosystem. Try storing your feeder insects frozen and flash boil (a 5-7 second dip in boiling hot water) them just prior to feeding.