Warning!!! Springtails + molting Scorpions

[drapion]

Last night I noticed one of my Tityus stigmurus sub-adult was about to molt. So I gave the colony a good misting and moved the enclosure to a warmer shelf. This morning when I checked on it, it had molted but was swarmed with springtails and was barely alive. There was so many on the poor thing I could hardly even see the scorp. It was so weak there was no way I could save it so all I could do is put down so it didn' suffer anymore.

I keep my enclosures clean so I don' know if the springtails were starving or what. It's the first time this has happened, but I don't want it to happen again. Do any of you know a way to kill off some springtails without effecting the isopods and scorps in the enclosure?

This sucks, I raised her from 2nd instar and this was her last molt to adult.

 

[pannaking22]

Holy sh*t, I haven't heard of that happening before. Closest I've seen is springtails outcompeting tiny roaches for food. What species of springtail do you have? Sinella sp.? Springtails tend to be most sensitive to humidity fluctuations, so I think if you let it dry out a bit that'll at least knock the populations back. What species of isopods are in there? @Hisserdude might be able to help with this too.

That does suck man, sorry to hear!

 

[drapion]

I have no clue what species they are. I'l check with who I bought them from. The isopods are powder blues. I don' know their scientific name. I'm thinking about pulling the scorps out and making some tape traps with a dead roach in the middle and see if they get stuck to the tape.

 

[drapion]

Now I'm down to 4 T.stigs and 3 still have to molt to adult. I can't have it happen again

 

[pannaking22]

Are they the big, kind of white ones? https://bugguide.net/node/view/188421

Powder blue isos are fairly tolerant of short periods of dryness, so they should be able to take the hit somewhat. A tape trap wouldn't be a bad idea either. Certainly be a quick way to knock down the populations a bit.

 

[Hisserdude]

Wow, this is surprising, I've never heard of springtails attacking invertebrates larger than them, they can stress out smaller roaches by stealing their food and constant tactile contact, but that's about it usually.

Are you sure the isopods didn't attack the scorpion, and the springtails were just lapping up the wounds after the fact? Because isopods have been proven to attack molting invertebrates.

As for getting rid of the springtails, I'd dry things out like Panna suggested, and remove any invertebrates you don't want dead.

 

[drapion]

It is possible the isopods attacked it. But there wasn't any around when I found it this morning. And there' very few isopods in the enclosure. I only introduce them a few weeks ago and only put around 10 or so in.

 

[drapion]

And over the last 20 years or so I've use probably 6 different species of isopods as my cleaners and have never lost a single scorp to them. I've only been using springtails for the last 2 months and now this has happened. But this is the first time ive used powder blues. Normally i use micro jungles or the little orange one.

I' afraid what will happen when one of my scorps give birth if it was the springtails. But thinking about it in my T.smithii enclosure I have springtails and micro jungles and they have been molting non stop and this hasn't happened. So you could be right. Maybe the powder blues are more aggressive and their to blame.

 

[drapion]

Are they the big, kind of white ones? https://bugguide.net/node/view/188421

Powder blue isos are fairly tolerant of short periods of dryness, so they should be able to take the hit somewhat. A tape trap wouldn't be a bad idea either. Certainly be a quick way to knock down the populations a bit.

Yep that's them

 

[RTTB]

That sucks big time. I hope the exact cause can be determined.

 

[pannaking22]

Hmm, maybe it is the powder blues then. I don't know all that much about them, other than people like to use them as occasional feeders because they're so soft.

 

[Scorpionluva]

Man that sucks. I've never heard or seen anything like that before. Wish I could offer up some helping words but all I can say is wow bro that sucks

 

[miss moxie]

Is it plausible something was wrong with the scorpion originally? Like it molted out bad or something and the springtails were just seizing the opportunity? I guess it's impossible to know now for sure.

 

[drapion]

No the stig was fine. Molt was hanging above it on the cork like it should be and it was completely out of it. I knocked all the springtails off it and picked it up and looked at it closely. Looked perfect except all the tiny holes leaking fluid.

 

[LawnShrimp]

The isopods are the most likely culprit for the original damage and the springtails were just taking advantage of the wounds. I don't trust isopods at all; both Porcellio scaber and Porcellionides pruinosus are very fond of eating injured or molting inverts. However, in the event that the springtails did attack your scorpion, there are several predators you can add to keep cleaner numbers down. I an trying to breed Schizomids, or pygmy whipscorpions, expressly for this purpose. They are about the size of a small ant and are incapable of eating much more than springtails. Pseudoscorpions may also help but they can be harmful scavengers as well. Hypoaspis mites are useful but may also attack molting inverts. However, most of these predators are short-lived and hard to source, especially if you live in temperate climates.

If I were you, I'd remove all of the isopods from the enclosures and leave it at that. I've had all my centipedes (granted, not scorpions) molt in springtail-filled enclosures without problems. If you are still wary of springtails, adding some sterilized leaf litter or other detritus like moss will give springtails a food source when prey scraps and droppings are not available.

 

[MotherofSpiders]

I once found a hungry iso chewing on the spinneret of my T. stirmi female as she just stood there. She was not molting at the time, the iso was simply hungry. A small droplet of hemolymph formed at the site, but thankfully it stopped and no real damage done. Needless to say, they were outta there!!

 

[dragonfire1577]

I have never had issues with any springtails or dwarf white isopods, the little guys are slow moving and barely bigger than the springtails plus they burrow and are quite shy. Otherwise I wouldn't trust isopods in with molting inverts, they definitely can chew on the soft immobilized invert.

 

[drapion]

I'm done with the power blues. I'm getting them out of the enclosures they are in and sticking to the micro species. I'm not willing to lose another scorp to them or even take the chance. I'l just use them as food for my instars until their gone

 

[Galapoheros]

I had trouble with those faster isopods, I think they're fast for a reason, a little more predatory than the slow moving ones. I got rid of those a long time ago also.

 

[darkness975]

Last night I noticed one of my Tityus stigmurus sub-adult was about to molt. So I gave the colony a good misting and moved the enclosure to a warmer shelf. This morning when I checked on it, it had molted but was swarmed with springtails and was barely alive. There was so many on the poor thing I could hardly even see the scorp. It was so weak there was no way I could save it so all I could do is put down so it didn' suffer anymore.

I keep my enclosures clean so I don' know if the springtails were starving or what. It's the first time this has happened, but I don't want it to happen again. Do any of you know a way to kill off some springtails without effecting the isopods and scorps in the enclosure?

This sucks, I raised her from 2nd instar and this was her last molt to adult.

I don't use springtails or isopods in my Enclosures, and this solidified that I never will.

Sorry for your loss @drapion