HELP !!! I.D. needed for problem ??

[Matt K]

All 36 flavors of my roaches seem fine, except the E.distanti. One dies every day or two (nymphs, not old adults) and all the nymphs and adults seem to have this mite on them that is 1/3 or 1/4 the size of the 'leftover food mite' and are not found on the food items, just the live roaches. a) What is it? b) Can it be gotten rid of? c) What can I be doing wrong? d) Do I need to incinerate the colony to protect my others?

Please advise!
Matt K

 

[Herp13]

Oh god that's kind of scary, do you thnik it is killng the roaches? I don't know a lot about mites(never had them), but i would personally try to start over(ie. torch the infected colony), i'm so sorry that happened to you, i hope someone with more experiance can help you.

-Eric

P.S. The E. posticus are doing great, i know have 6-7 adults and they are mating a lot

 

[bugmankeith]

You need cleaner substrate i'm guessing, mites like the dirty substrate, so if it's a bit cleaner the mites may slowly die off.

That could be the reason, or not.

 

[Matt K]

CURE IN SIGHT !!
I moved them from the Eco-Earth type substrate to nothing but cypress mulch, damp, and treated the outside of thier tub with a *VERY* small application of Permethrin....a known insecticide, but traces of it irritate mites. The roaches are fine, more active, feeding better, and 80% of the mites have gone.....

 

[bugmankeith]

Cool great job.

 

[Matt K]

Oooops.

:wall: OOOPS.:wall:

All my roaches are fine. Fun little pillbugs and isopods are NOT. Most kicked from the permethrin. Though I made a goof, hopefully someone sometime will learn from my mistake. Put myripods and such in another room when treating roaches for mites. :8o

Dang.

 

[Aquanut]

There are miticides that are fairly specific to mites. Pyrethriods work on mites and insects - actually better on insects, but definitly have miticide properties. i'll see what might be availible now, i haven't been doing crop consulting for a few years and products come and go. A lot of the good products are not availible to homeowners, but sometimes there are home and garden watered down versions that i have bought for reaserch when in didnt need to spray 100 acres. I'll get back to you on this, i need to go see whos smarter than a fifth grader