Odd White Insects with Roaches

[pannaking22]

I've noticed small white or brown things crawling around in my roach containers recently and I decided to take a look at what they were. Under the microscope, I did notice a few mites crawling around on a piece of carrot I took out, but there were other small creatures as well (the ones I had noticed). Definitely insects, with fairly pronounced eyes, no wings, and were either white or tan/brown. They seemed almost booklouse (Family Psocidae) like, but I haven't seen ones of that size before. Another thought was springtails, but the container has been very dry. I rarely, if ever, water.

If I can squeeze in some time on the fancy scope one of the entomology labs has, I'll try to get some pics of them before I leave for a week to do fieldwork.

Any thoughts?

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

Why does everybody else get all the booklice in their tanks and not me? I want some!

 

[pannaking22]

Why does everybody else get all the booklice in their tanks and not me? I want some!

Well once I figure out what the heck these are, I would be more than happy to send some your way, Peter

 

[The Snark]

How large? I suppose pretty big for you to be able to count the legs. Looking forward to photos.

 

[pannaking22]

I'd say around 1 mm. I was able to count the legs once I got them under a scope. The larger ones are tan/brown and the smaller ones are white. Unfortunately, the camera scope was booked, so I'll have to wait until I get my field work done this week before I can get around to pics. I decided to just clean out the enclosures, but I saved a bunch of whatever they are in alcohol so I can check them out later.

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

I prefer them live

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

Oh, happy day!

These are booklice! (Watch it in HD and you can almost see them. The adults are no more than 1 millimeter.)

[YOUTUBE]tVdWAgFqyF8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[pannaking22]

Oh, happy day!

These are booklice! (Watch it in HD and you can almost see them. The adults are no more than 1 millimeter.)

[YOUTUBE]tVdWAgFqyF8[/YOUTUBE]

Good find, Peter! Those are definitely it! I still have a bunch left in my Turkistan roach container, so I'd be more than happy to send you some!

Think they could cause any harm to my inverts?

 

[The Snark]

Well pannaking22, you have your answer. Now we need you to provide an answer. How and why did you decide to keep Psocoptera along with your roaches?

And, they are harmless, unless your animals are composed of degraded cellulose compounds and related proteins.

 

[pannaking22]

Well pannaking22, you have your answer. Now we need you to provide an answer. How and why did you decide to keep Psocoptera along with your roaches?

And, they are harmless, unless your animals are composed of degraded cellulose compounds and related proteins.

How is a great question. It just seemed like they popped up out of nowhere (spontaneous generation perhaps? ). I guess there was something they really liked about my roach containers. Or the large number of typed and bound piles of degraded cellulose I have on my cellulose shelf

In term of why, sometimes you just have to mix it up a bit. Even if it's unintentional lol

 

[dociledragons]

Why does everybody else get all the booklice in their tanks and not me? I want some!

Why on earth would you want these? Unless to feed to small lizards.

 

[catfishrod69]

I have a spare tank that i used to house roach feed and other feed. One day i had an explosion of booklice in it. They were everywhere, trillions of them, all over the inside and out. Not sure if they came from the roach feed, sunflower seeds, or what. The tank never got wet to hatch any eggs or anything. Then just as fast as they appeared, they dissapeared.

 

[The Snark]

How is a great question. It just seemed like they popped up out of nowhere (spontaneous generation perhaps? ). I guess there was something they really liked about my roach containers. Or the large number of typed and bound piles of degraded cellulose I have on my cellulose shelf

In term of why, sometimes you just have to mix it up a bit. Even if it's unintentional lol

It suddenly came to me that this thread desperately needs a healthy helping of surreal.
Popped up. I firmly believe that there is a gene*, normally dormant, in charge of spontaneous procreation/immaculate conception that will eventually be found in nearly all animals. For example, a quick glance around the world will reveal numerous couples whose combined weight => 1/3 of a ton. Mechanically speaking, these couples ability to achieve successful sexual congress openly defies certain well established laws of physics. And yet, they manage to breed like flies on a poo pile. The micro miniature cohabitants of our planet randomly are able to activate this gene, oblivious of certain religious sensibilities. They usually are quite adept at doing this when they are reasonably certain they won't get caught.

*On a slightly less humoresque note, there are quite a lot of geneticists who believe there is indeed a genetic sequence that regulates asexual reproduction. In certain rarefied circles referred to as the god's testicles portion of the helix. This theory partially inspired Jurassic Park wherein Jeff Goldblum's character succinctly summed it up with 'Life will find a way'. Though of course, in the case of this thread, the animal in question is a little more modest than a velociraptor.

 

[pannaking22]

Why on earth would you want these? Unless to feed to small lizards.

Hmm, I wonder if I could feed these to very small slings then?

 

[The Snark]

Hmm, I wonder if I could feed these to very small slings then?

I suspect jumper slings would have a field day with them. Very active so the kids could get an easy lock on and easy to take down and digest.