# Predatory mites - Hypoaspis miles



## doom (Oct 17, 2006)

Crawling on Scolopendra subspinipes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EneG8fyiTHM


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## Twilight (Oct 17, 2006)

O...from how the others talked about it...I thought they were nearly invisible. THey're actually quite the opposite aren't they? They're very active too. I was wondering though, if you had them in some of the creatures that you do handle, isn't it bad in a way because they can get on you?

Later


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## Galapoheros (Oct 17, 2006)

The mites won't hurt you.  Yea they are real easy to see if you are not too farsighted.  I ordered some too but couldn't see any so I returned it and got my money back.  A mistake or they got too hot in shipping.  I already had them anyway but I wasn't 100% sure.  They do work with the parasitic mites.  But if you have a big problem with parasitic mites, it might take some weeks for them to take care of it.  I've been raising them in containers with no centipedes by feeding them cricket legs and other small body parts.  You can see them huddle around the body parts.  But it really looks like they thrive more in containers with centipedes than by themselves.


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## IguanaMama (Oct 17, 2006)

Those are the "good" mites, right?


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## dehaani (Oct 17, 2006)

Yes IguanaMama, they are.


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## Twilight (Oct 17, 2006)

Galapoheros said:


> The mites won't hurt you.  Yea they are real easy to see if you are not too farsighted.  I ordered some too but couldn't see any so I returned it and got my money back.  A mistake or they got too hot in shipping.  I already had them anyway but I wasn't 100% sure.  They do work with the parasitic mites.  But if you have a big problem with parasitic mites, it might take some weeks for them to take care of it.  I've been raising them in containers with no centipedes by feeding them cricket legs and other small body parts.  You can see them huddle around the body parts.  But it really looks like they thrive more in containers with centipedes than by themselves.


Yeah I sorta knew they weren't harmful, sorta takes the whole meaning of trying to get rid of some pesty mites by using other mites that are just as potentially harmful to your pede or yourself. 

One thing I was wondering, even if the mites died, wouldn't you at least see the dead ones in there, at least some bits and parts of them?

Those things sound interesting, might be interesting in keeping them as pets...


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## Galapoheros (Oct 17, 2006)

Twilight said:


> Yeah I sorta knew they weren't harmful, sorta takes the whole meaning of trying to get rid of some pesty mites by using other mites that are just as potentially harmful to your pede or yourself.
> 
> One thing I was wondering, even if the mites died, wouldn't you at least see the dead ones in there, at least some bits and parts of them?
> 
> Those things sound interesting, might be interesting in keeping them as pets...


Oh, I wasn't sure what you meant about wondering if it was bad if they got on you.  

They are big enough to see, but they are still small.  Because of the sub they come in, if they aren't moving or are dead, and you don't use a magnifier, you can practically forget seeing them, especially parts of them.  You can get them to move by blowing your breath on top of the sub.  Very easy to see on a flat color like on a centipede or when moving around.


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## rex_arachne (Oct 18, 2006)

they are beneficial? but their presence in the enclosure is somewhat annoying/disturbing...


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## J Morningstar (Oct 18, 2006)

they are well tolerated..But I have never known a millipede to complain.


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## danread (Oct 18, 2006)

The name was changed to _Stratiolaelaps miles_ a few years ago, it just hasn't caught on with the biocontrol companies! I'm working on raring these for my PhD at the moment. I tried once before without any success, but i'm rearing them on a mixed diet of grain mites and nematodes, and i'm trying a number of different substrates. I'll let you know if i have any success.


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## doom (Oct 19, 2006)

This is a substrat they were in when i got them. There was some peat.


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## syndicate (Oct 20, 2006)

doom now did these work well gettin the mites off of the pede?how effective do u find them in killing mites that are already on a invert?ive heard mixed opinions about these working to get mites off tarantulas


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## Galapoheros (Oct 20, 2006)

Just from watching the mites move around, I'm just guessing, but it doesn't look like they could maneuver through the T hairs very well to get to the parasitic mites...just a hunch:? .


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## syndicate (Oct 21, 2006)

yeah i got a female ornata from one of the more known online dealers on here which came with  parasitic mites and i want to get rid of them


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## doom (Oct 30, 2006)

*H. miles eating part of mealworm*


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## McPede (Oct 31, 2006)

syndicate said:


> doom now did these work well gettin the mites off of the pede?how effective do u find them in killing mites that are already on a invert?ive heard mixed opinions about these working to get mites off tarantulas


I have used predatory mites on both millipedes and on some heavily infested tarantulas and they have worked just great.
Highly recommended and even if they might cost a bit, it's money well spent.

Sorry for the bad English.

/Fredrik


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## Alice (Oct 31, 2006)

they worked for as well, and in germany, you can get a colony of 12500 miles for less than 20$ including shipping. how much are they in the us?


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## Galapoheros (Oct 31, 2006)

I saw that it took a few weeks for the hypos to eat all the parasitic mites off some of my pedes.  I used to try to get rid of hypos in my cages because I didn't know what they were:? :wall: .  They would come with some of my WC pedes and I'd get a population explosion of them in the soil.  Now, I very happy they are there.


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