Mites.

[skips]

i clicked on this thread so i wudnt have to make a new one and quite frankly i'm now confused by this long winded thread. . . earlier today i found 3 of my T tanks had lots of lil white tiny crawlies in them. . .all over the soil and eco-earth. . not many in the water, some on a dead crix. . . the 3 tanks have diff tevels of moisture in the substrate. . .chile rose which was almost bone dry eco-earth, the other 2 tanks slightly moist, one with potting soil substrate, other with eco-earth. I "cook" all substrate before placing it in the tanks. . .the tiny creatures bout size of grain of sand seem to be white or kind pale skin colour, they move but slowly, are also on the glass on sides of tanks. I found some in the kk that i have attempted to breed crix in, they had infested the dead crix in the soil. . ..sre these anything to be worried about? i dont know what these tiny creatures are.. .do u have any idea? they are in the dryer tank as well as some moister tanks. . .do i need to change n clean tanks or not worry? they are in quite noticable amounts, scattered everywhere, not in any set areas of the tanks. . .thanks

Bill may disagree, but without seeing them, those really do sound like mites. They can come in on the crickets as has happened to me. They may not kill the crickets or other animal unless it is already stressed, which crickets tend to be packed in high numbers. Collembola are also common, but require very moist substrate, so it wouldnt make sense in your dry tanks. Also, I don't think i've ever seen collembola climb glass unless it's very dirty, whereas I know mites do. As for how to take care of them, change you substrate and sterilize your tank. hopefully that gets rid of most of them to the point you don't have to worry. Check your crickets too. Other than that i'm still trying to figure out if this predatory mite thing is worth it.

 

[WelshTan]

thanks Skips

 

[Bill S]

WelshTan, if you can, see if you can catch some of these "white crawlies" in a plastic vial. Maybe use tweezers to place some of the infested substrate or cricket remains in a vial. Then take it to a college or university in your area and get someone in a biology, botany or agriculture department to look at them. That's the only real way your going to get a good ID on them. Over the Internet it's very difficult to diagnose "white crawlies" without good photographs. If you can get a reliable diagnosis from someone who knows what they are looking at, please post it here. The threads on this topic have been going in circles (the same circles) over and over again because everyone is guessing according to their own prejudices, and nobody is posting good pictures of what they are seeing.

 

[WelshTan]

i really must try to get the cash together for a decent digital camera. . wish i had a microscope too . . . there is a college near me. . i might try and do that. . hope there is someone there who can identify me. . .so far the responses i've seen in this thread and my own thread i ended up having to start seem to be bout 80% towards mite probability but i'm not going to throw my hands in the air n scream "mites!!!" until i am 100% certain with full confirmation . . .maybe the biologist or whoever can get digital close up photos for me that i can send in

 

[skips]

i really must try to get the cash together for a decent digital camera. . wish i had a microscope too . . . there is a college near me. . i might try and do that. . hope there is someone there who can identify me. . .so far the responses i've seen in this thread and my own thread i ended up having to start seem to be bout 80% towards mite probability but i'm not going to throw my hands in the air n scream "mites!!!" until i am 100% certain with full confirmation . . .maybe the biologist or whoever can get digital close up photos for me that i can send in

You don't even have access to a decent magnifying glass? You might be able to make out 8 legs or at least see if it's any of collembola's three body forms. Definitely let us know whatever you find out. My question is, why would collembola congregate densely on a dead cricket carcass? and do they climb? if not--->mites

 

[Bill S]

My question is, why would collembola congregate densely on a dead cricket carcass? and do they climb? if not--->mites

It's not unusual for Collembola to congregate on food sources, and a decaying cricket would be a good food source. Climbing glass is less typical, though. But the real trick would be to see the creatures. There are other possibilities besides mites and Collembola, and not enough information here to do anything beyond wild guesses.

 

[Miss Bianca]

The pics have appeared before, and will probably appear again when relevant. The thread is, finally, going in a few new directions, although the theme is old and oft repeated. If the repetition bothers you - well, get used to it. I'd bet there will be more threads along similar lines in the near future. I will be very surprised if we don't see another Collembola population reported as a mite infestation within the next couple weeks.

Who said it bothered me or even implied that? !
I was just making a comment...

what with it being the same topic and same pictures and all...
no need for the sassiness..

---- and YES, there was another thread on pg1 just today titled mites...
and I really don't think what we discussed were in fact mites...

but what do any of us know right?

 

[Bill S]

OK. I've set up a few more mite pictures. Here are some parasitic mites, with one possible exception.

First, a Centruroides with babies plus three Leptus species mites. (Number three is on the tail.)

Another group of Leptus species mites, this time on an Opiliones.

A gnaphosid spider with a Drassyllus species mite. (Felt sorry for the spider.)

A mite with an Erythraeoid larval mite attached. (Not sure if this is really parasitism - the large mite is an Erythraeoid adult.)

A Triatoma rubida with an unidentified mite.

And, just to show that being warm blooded isn't protection against mites - here's a newborn Pallid Bat with a Macronyssid mite.

 

[Miss Bianca]

These are awesome Bill, thank you for sharing these.

 

[skips]

Those are some awesome pictures. I'd still like to see a few that like the ones ive had

 

[c'est ma]

Oh, man, how'd I ever miss that last set of pictures?!!! Thanks for posting those, Bill--they're spellbinding!

I don't suppose Jillian's book is going to have mite pics, is it? If not, she'll need to do another one...!

 

[Bill S]

I don't suppose Jillian's book is going to have mite pics, is it? If not, she'll need to do another one...!

Mites will be addressed - but probably only as an overview. THere is an excellent book available on mites - and I was going to post the title and author here - but Jillian left the house about two minutes ago and took the book with her. Maybe this evening I'll be able to post it. (Warning - it's a very expensive, hard to find book. Anyone interested will probably want to scout for it at their local university library.)

Update: (Amazon to the rescue) The book is Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour by David Evans Walter and Heather Coreen Proctor. A used copy goes for more than $200, unfortunately.

 

[jsloan]

A gnaphosid spider with a Drassyllus species mite.

Nice pictures. Drassyllus is not a mite genus, though; it's a gnaphosid genus. That is, if the rule still holds that once a genus name is given to one animal it cannot be used for another animal.

 

[Bill S]

Nice pictures. Drassyllus is not a mite genus, though; it's a gnaphosid genus. That is, if the rule still holds that once a genus name is given to one animal it cannot be used for another animal.

You're right about Drassyllus. I'll have to check on the mite ID. But names do sometimes get used more than once. The example that comes to mind is atrox. Crotalus atrox is a rattlesnake, Bothrops atrox is another pit viper, Panthera atrox is an extinct large cat, Thaumatomyrmex atrox is an ant, and I think there's a plant or two with that name as well.

 

[equuskat]

Bill, those photos are phenomenal. Thanks for posting them.