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- Dec 22, 2004
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- 3,886
Hi!
Probs next week I'm gonna order predatory mites (Hypoaspis miles) and I'm breaking all bones in my brain trying to come up with a way to maintain a colony of them for any future use.
I'm wonder what kinds of food I could present them with in order to feed them. Since these mites normally feed on other mites and mite eggs and very small insects, I have no clue with what else to feed them that is safe and readily available.
I've been thinking of several possibilities but am not sure if they work:
- I could crush a cricket and put it on the soil, hoping the mites go for it and start devouring it or that other mites come from it and feed upon it. Those other mites would then themselves become prey to the predatory mites. The problem I see with that sollution is that after a few days or some weeks there wouldn't be any mite eggs left in the substrate to hatch feeder mites from!
- The other thaught is to throw some granulated dog food onto the substrate, hoping the predatory mites might like that.
- The last sollution is to change ½ of the substrate every week, putting new and feedermite-egg infested soil into their container and disguarding the other half of the old substrate (eventho it will certainly be full of predatory mites).
Has anybody here any experience and success with feeding and maintaining a colony of predatory mites? Will any of the ideas work or would I need other methods?
Thanks!
Cirith
Probs next week I'm gonna order predatory mites (Hypoaspis miles) and I'm breaking all bones in my brain trying to come up with a way to maintain a colony of them for any future use.
I'm wonder what kinds of food I could present them with in order to feed them. Since these mites normally feed on other mites and mite eggs and very small insects, I have no clue with what else to feed them that is safe and readily available.
I've been thinking of several possibilities but am not sure if they work:
- I could crush a cricket and put it on the soil, hoping the mites go for it and start devouring it or that other mites come from it and feed upon it. Those other mites would then themselves become prey to the predatory mites. The problem I see with that sollution is that after a few days or some weeks there wouldn't be any mite eggs left in the substrate to hatch feeder mites from!
- The other thaught is to throw some granulated dog food onto the substrate, hoping the predatory mites might like that.
- The last sollution is to change ½ of the substrate every week, putting new and feedermite-egg infested soil into their container and disguarding the other half of the old substrate (eventho it will certainly be full of predatory mites).
Has anybody here any experience and success with feeding and maintaining a colony of predatory mites? Will any of the ideas work or would I need other methods?
Thanks!
Cirith