Care info on Opiliones needed

[RezonantVoid]

OK I took my son yesterday over to the reserve, we got a few bits but it was so overgrown with nettles n bramble I couldn't get into the trees for a good bit of wood so gunna search my bug heap today , while I am there I will see if I can find her some smaller friends .
It turns out she did not eat much though I found the mealworm yesterday when I was trying to find where she was hiding she'd moved it onto the sub under a leaf. It doesn't look like she tried much if any I will try again today with some fish food as she doesn't seem keen on mealworm.
I plan on misting if that's what's best for her , I want her care to be second to non so out with the dish and fake stuff and today we will try to make her a real home .
I did pull out the spare 30cm cube yesterday so all I need todo is set her up today. I have alot of other bugs in my garden isopods slugs snails tiny crickets ect will she be OK if they accidentally end up in there with her or should I remove them soon as I see them? Obviously I will check her new decor first but if they are hidden well I might end up missing a couple and again I don't want to upset her or put her in danger. Hopefully she will enjoy her new life with me.

They glow in the dark ? that's so cool I need to find my uv light now do you know if they get upset about it ? I read once scorpion don't like the black light I assume these are the same? I don't even know if it's true but I don't want to stress her out in any way.


I had always wondered if detritus mites could be used as a cleanup crew ! It had occurred to me once or twice but no one seems to know much about these mites on ab , I am even guilty myself of getting rid of them from t's and helping others remove them too, (they love mushroom and can be easily removed with that changed out twice a day for a week or 2,) but I have always secretly wondered if they belonged in the cleanup crew, never had anyone with enough knowledge to ask but it made sense in my head if they eat detritus as the name suggests do they not belong in the soil.

Thank you again for your answers and sorry again for all the questions lol.

Pods, molluscs, millipedes, springtails, worms, small beetles, and similar should be acceptable tank inhabitants, they can coexist with them. The only thing I would remove on sight would be spiders or soil centipedes. Webbing isn't an issue for some harvestmen as they can safely travel across web without being entangled, in fact some even steal food directly from spiders webs!

As for the UV glow, not all harvestmen are like this, but a number of them do. Correct in them not enjoying it for especially long, similar to scorpions, so I wouldn't recommend exposing them to it unnecessarily, but it makes for some cool shots as seen in the Octobunus, Equitius and Paranuncia photos below





Yes, detritus loving organisms are often the unsung heroes of bioactivity. I've gone from completely avoiding them at all costs thinking they were the enemy of all T's to making them key aspects of every setup I build!

One such mite you could see if located around you is the genus Linopodes. These are tiny fungivorous mites with a very elongated 2nd pair of limbs, similar to harvestmen and amblypygi! They are very tiny but once you know what to look for, easy to spot. I recently found a fantastic photo archive by a macro (or let's be honest, at this point, micro) photographer. It has loads of insanely high quality pictures of a few more families with helpful info for rookies like me who don't know much about them:

Mites (Acari) — Frank Ashwood

An introduction to mites (Acari), with macrophotography by Frank Ashwood

www.frankashwood.com

I don't mean to derail the conversation off from harvestmen, but I think it's incredible how much learning to keep harvestmen well has opened my eyes to many many more tiny things that often to unnoticed, but help create a balanced ecosystem, both outside our homes and inside our enclosures!



Probably one thing I should mention with the sp. you have is I don't believe they live very long compared to most of the ones I deal with. The families I have the most experience around are Assamiidae and Triaenonychidae, both of which are fairly small, robust/armoured, slower growing, longer lived, and cannot detach their limbs. The experience I do have with larger and more fragile species is somewhat successful, but they seem much harder to form continuous captive colonies with due to their shorter lifespans and space requirements. The info above should give you a great shot at success, but if she does happen to pass away unexpectedly in spite of such, I wouldn't be too surprised. But it sounds like she is just the right pair of hands to keep her happy.

Best wishes with your harvestmen keeping journey! Happy to answer questions any time

 

[RezonantVoid]

[edit]

Not sure why my above reply double posted, have deleted the message clone that was in this reply

 

[Charliemum]

Wow they do glow, n not only glow but like war paint, reminds me of the singing crab from Moana, so shiny . Be interesting to see if she glows too. I will only do it once to see if she does though I don't want to upset her.

Yes I had seen these only live a year before they pass and obviously she's already fully grown so I wasn't expecting long with her but the time I do have her for I want to be perfect for her. I was also hoping if I caught more to go with her they may self sustain as it were, probably not possible in a viv but either way a native viv will be fun to watch.

I will be double sure to check anything I have, no spiders, centipedes or large beetles .
Now you have said it I don't ever remember seeing a spider catch a harvestmen, so makes sense they can traverse their webs. Very interesting.

I always thought isopods and springtings were not enough as clean up , it takes so much more in the wild then just those 2 and I think ppl put to much hope into just those as the cleanup crew. I always thought it was why bio vivs never last, I think springtings n isopods are only part of that crew and a small part at that there are too many other things missing that would help with cleanup in the wild like harvestmen, mites, even flys, centipedes, millipedes, snails n slugs they all work together in the wild but I have found no one else that thinks that way, and when I have brought it up to others I have gotten the gasp with "oh no no you can't do that the t will die/be eaten."
But in my eyes it's how it would be in the wild so how can it be bad in a viv? There are even some keepers that tut as soon as I mention a t in a bio viv . It won't work, it's to much for the t , the cleanup crew will eat your t , ect ect. Maybe it hasn't ever worked well because ppl only have 2 parts of the cleanup crew and you need 100 parts.
A tree won't grow with only the seed and soil, it needs everything else, water, sunlight, space, warmth ect for the tree to grow strong , I am really starting to think bioactive needs the same, lots of parts not just 2.

I would be very much interested in seeing how you have set vivs up with the mites , how they have benefitted the set up and what brought you to the idea that they belong and shouldn't be removed....maybe if you had time ( I know your always super busy so I won't be offended if you think this is a bad idea rl first ) you could write a thread documenting your use of them ? There is nothing like that on here and at least twice a week I am called on to tell ppl how to get rid of mites , it would be nice to be able to say actually they are good here see this thread . I do always tell ppl they won't hurt the t they just look unsightly when they hitch a ride but they always want rid, I was guilty of it myself but the more i learn the more i think they are essentialand not to be removed completely, yes get them to come off the t but they belong in the sub. I would start one myself but you have alot more knowledge in this area then me, you have practical I only have theories.

Don't worry about derailing from harvestmen, I always enjoy what you teach me , 3 years you have been popping up helping me understand alsorts of creatures better I am always happy for any info and very much enjoy our convos .

 

[Charliemum]

Forgot to say that article was super interesting I read the full thing and am going to see what else he has to say thanks for showing me

 

[Charliemum]

Ophilia's new new home compleat with stuff from my garden plus moss and leaf litter I had already. I will wait a couple of days to make sure I didn't accidentally put any spiders in but I did try and make sure I removed them and and centipede I found.
I didn't have a load of plants or big bits of wood but hopefully this will be adequate for now at least
I saw lots of tiny insects as I was making it so hopefully it will be OK.

 

[RezonantVoid]

View attachment 479568

Ophilia's new new home compleat with stuff from my garden plus moss and leaf litter I had already. I will wait a couple of days to make sure I didn't accidentally put any spiders in but I did try and make sure I removed them and and centipede I found.
I didn't have a load of plants or big bits of wood but hopefully this will be adequate for now at least
I saw lots of tiny insects as I was making it so hopefully it will be OK.

This looks awesome, excellent work

 

[Charliemum]

This looks awesome, excellent work

Thank you I did see another branch I would like to add but it's a large branch and at the time I had my son with me there was no way I was trying to drag it bk with him there, it's rather large but has been on the floor in the bushes for a while and is covered in lichen and I am sure I could chop it up n use it , I am already looking for a bigger viv to turn into a native viv as a display tank in my living room it would be perfect for it. It's been so interesting watching what popped up in the 12inch cube, I think a big 18inch cube would be fun to do and I just happen to have one in my cubby


I have seen no spiders so Ophilia will be added today , I also found a much smaller harvestmen with 5 legs like her yesterday so they now live together and little one will be moved in with her, and today I will try to find some more so they can be happy together in there ... although everytime little one goes near her she kicks him not sure she's as happy about having friends