21 replies to this topic

[DDD101DDD]

So, I took a closer look at my fruit fly culture and noticed a ton of mites. How do I get rid of them, is there anything I should do to my ant colonies? They're very close to each other, so I'm afraid of the mites getting in to them. What should I do to prevent this in the future? Thanks in advance.

[NickAnter]

I had this problem as well. Are they on the medium, and are the mites very pale?

 

As soon as I saw the mites I went full nuclear and threw the entire culture in the outside trash. that's personally what I would advise, and not sure how to prevent this in the future, especially if the flies are bought. Possibly just take flies out of the culture in the future, and breed those separately, to hopefully avoid the mite problem?

[DDD101DDD]

Here are pictures of the mites, yes they are pale, yes they are on the medium.

 

Do you think they will spread to my ant colonies?

[NickAnter]

Do you see any on the flies? If not, and it appears as though they can't get out of the culture, then probably not. I'm just paranoid about that stuff, hence me throwing out my culture.

[DDD101DDD]

Do you see any on the flies? If not, and it appears as though they can't get out of the culture, then probably not. I'm just paranoid about that stuff, hence me throwing out my culture.

Oh, I didn't bother checking the flies. I just threw it out a few minutes ago. But I did see quite a few mites on the lid.
 

[gs5248]

You can get some diatamacous   Earth and put a circle of it around your fruit fly cultures. I is very effective since it physically cuts the mites' exoskeletons.

[BugFinder]

You can get some diatamacous   Earth and put a circle of it around your fruit fly cultures. I is very effective since it physically cuts the mites' exoskeletons.

 

Be careful when handling DE.  You will want to wear a respirator when handling it, and only apply it to places where it's not exposed, like in wall voids.   Always read and obey the label of any pesticide you are using before you use it.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

All of the fruit flies I had got them after a while.
If they are the same as the ones I had they do no harm to the ants, mine were not blood sucking and I fed the flies regardless of the mites.

Throwing them outside is always the safer option and that's what I'd suggest you do unless you can ID them but if you don't see them attached to the flies themselves chances are they are not parasitic.
I have soil setups so I'm always down to introduce beneficial mites that's why I still dumped them in with no bad effects even years after I introduced them

[Temperateants]

I know mites cause cultures to crash, but is it possible to harvest any flies left and put them in boiling water? It seems kind of risky, but can mites survive boiling water?

[ANTdrew]

Mites cannot survive boiling water. One could absolutely harvest the flies by freezing them and boiling them as needed.
This thread illustrates why I don’t do fruit flies anymore for my colonies. Even if the mites are harmless, having tens of thousands of them all over your setups is really annoying and frankly disgusting.

[antsandmore]

Mites cannot survive boiling water. One could absolutely harvest the flies by freezing them and boiling them as needed.
This thread illustrates why I don’t do fruit flies anymore for my colonies. Even if the mites are harmless, having tens of thousands of them all over your setups is really annoying and frankly disgusting.

this is true. they get all over your setups and crawl around. 

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I wonder why my setup didn't get infested really.

I guess the outside soil might've introduced predatory mites or something that keep the balance.
I have some mites in the soil but a big variety in fairly low numbers.

[ANTdrew]

I wonder why my setup didn't get infested really.

I guess the outside soil might've introduced predatory mites or something that keep the balance.
I have some mites in the soil but a big variety in fairly low numbers.

You have a more balanced ecosystem. The trash mites really explode when there is no other competition and no controls.

[smares]

Could be grain mites. I've had an issue with these for a while and I haven't been able to get rid of them. I have seen them infect my starting ant colonies and make them crash, I suspect they were eating the eggs.

[jgoogz]

Agreed with people in here. Mites are gross.

I’d start a new culture and use cotton to breathe it to prevent mites.

Fruitflies are just such good food for nearly all species.


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[OhNoNotAgain]

The only time I salvaged fruit flies from grain mites is one time when I rinsed off larvae ONE BY ONE in running water.

Unfortunately that colony died off a few generations later.

 

Now I COOK all my fruit flies (freeze then briefly boil). It's not worth the annoyance of grain mite infestations. The mite eggs stick to queens and brood and are nearly impossible to get rid of. It's a pity as fraggles love chasing and hunting ff.

 

P.S. I freeze all fruit fly bins contaminated with mites before chucking, hoping that will kill them. I would hate contributing to invasive mites spreading where they don't belong....

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 7 2021 - 11:18 AM.

[Chickalo]

Mites in bunches give me the creeps.  I would throw it away, too, just to be safe. 

[Chickalo]

Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place?  I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.

[jgoogz]

Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place? I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.

If you smack the side of whatever container they’re in they just fall to the bottom. If you poor them into a nice tall container, you have plenty of time to do whatever action you need before you gotta give it a lil smack.

If you smack it a lot they essential become fluid and you can poor them out of a corner of whatever container.

Best feeder insect ever.


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[Chickalo]

 

Forgot to ask but how do you get fruit flies out of the cup thing without them going all over the place? I dunno I can just see them jumping out and onto my carpet, in which I'll never sleep in my room again.

If you smack the side of whatever container they’re in they just fall to the bottom. If you poor them into a nice tall container, you have plenty of time to do whatever action you need before you gotta give it a lil smack.

If you smack it a lot they essential become fluid and you can poor them out of a corner of whatever container.

Best feeder insect ever.


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I'll make sure to smack the sides of a fruit fly colony next time I take a visit to Petco, thanks!