Mite problem?

[kahoy]

yup, stinky ugly crix... any chance that you can remove those mites manually w/o killing your spider?

 

[diadematus]

yup, stinky ugly crix... any chance that you can remove those mites manually w/o killing your spider?

Sure, I'll just pull on my nanosurgery gloves, start the arachnoanaesthesia, and go to work.

 

[Galapoheros]

I saw this while photographing my Thanatus spider, to which I had just given a pinhead cricket. Perhaps the "Heimchen" (crickets) are the source of my plague?

-Kevin

Haaaa! Good luck with the nanosurgery. I've seen the parasitic mites on crickets and especially mealworms in the pet stores. I bought a container of mealworms, put them on a glass table. Many hours later I came back and it looked like dust was surrounding the base of the container. Took a closer look and they were parasitic mites. If any of you use mealworms and see dead black ones in the containers at the store, I'd run out of the store and get decontaminated. ...it's not always the reason some are dead but ime, most of the time it has been. Hate the little diddlys.

 

[spydrhunter1]

U.S. sources for predatory mites
http://www.buglogical.com/hypoaspis_control_fungusGnats/hypoaspis.asp

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html

http://www.greenmethods.com/incl_pages/gb_hypoaspis.php

 

[Galapoheros]

The predatory mites saved my collection of pedes and scorps. I haven't had any problems with the bad mites on the few Ts I have. But I've never tried predatory mites on spiders or other arthros that don't come in contact with the soil very often. Anybody on the AB try Hypos or other predatory mites on spiders? The predatory mites need soil to reproduce but I'm starting to wonder if the parasitic mites do. I'd think so, but I've isolated infested animals on nothing but plastic and after 2 months....still had the vamp mites. Allot of old threads on this topic.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Dear Arachnosquire:

Please consider ordering the Hypoastis kit for your spider.Aside from the fact that the parasitic mites feel phooey to her they are also infecting your premises sufficiently to endanger any other animals that you may acquire.

Please consider offering "extra" Hypoastis to other people; your mite problem is not unique. And please consider asking whether the "small" "Rove beetles" that can also assist in mite control are the right size for your spider.

Good luck there!!!

Yours very truly,

Louise Esther Rothstein.

 

[Galapoheros]

Hey Glen southern, I see a couple of vamp mites on that one too, or were you pointing that out? Is that your spider?

 

[diadematus]

Please consider ordering the Hypoastis kit for your spider. Aside from the fact that the parasitic mites feel phooey to her they are also infecting your premises sufficiently to endanger any other animals that you may acquire.

Please consider offering "extra" Hypoastis to other people; your mite problem is not unique. And please consider asking whether the "small" "Rove beetles" that can also assist in mite control are the right size for your spider.

Dear Louis,

Thanks for the tips. But I've not yet seen a supplier located in Germany. And even if I did, I probably wouldn't invest in this for two spiders that I simply more or less picked up outside. Nonetheless, like Galapoheros, I'm curious about how one would apply these treatments to small (3-4mm) true spiders living in a plastic container with no substrate.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

PS -- BTW, it seems that my cricket supplier is the one who should be using these. But maybe it's my fault for buying them at the "big box" pet store, where I have the feeling that they order these and simply let them sit on the shelf until they all die or the container is sold, whichever happens to occur first.

 

[diadematus]

Okay (I can't believe I am working on this),

I found these in Germany: Phytoseiulus persimilis

"Phytoseiulus persimilis ist der natürliche Feind der Gemeinen Spinnmilbe (Tetranychus urticae)."

"Phytoseiulus persimilis is the natural enemy of the common spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)."

http://www.schneckenprofi.de/raubmilben-phytoseiulus-persimilis.html

What do you all think?

 

[Galapoheros]

Okay (I can't believe I am working on this),

I found these in Germany: Phytoseiulus persimilis

"Phytoseiulus persimilis ist der natürliche Feind der Gemeinen Spinnmilbe (Tetranychus urticae)."

"Phytoseiulus persimilis is the natural enemy of the common spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)."

http://www.schneckenprofi.de/raubmilben-phytoseiulus-persimilis.html

What do you all think?

ROCK diadematus! You may be on to something that might greatly help out the T guys! I'm going to throw the link in the T section and put your name by it. It's a place to start anyway, ..with mites on T's. Don't know if they would work with all the hair on T's but maybe someone will know. Maybe these can make their way through all the hair on T's better than other predatory mites:? .

 

[kahoy]

Sure, I'll just pull on my nanosurgery gloves, start the arachnoanaesthesia, and go to work.

oopps i havnt read that part at the beggining,

 

[diadematus]

But you need to pay attention to what they eat -- my impression from reading the description is that they are more selective that Hypoaspis sp.

And Hypoaspis have trouble with the larger spiders? I thought that I had read several stories here indicating that they work.

-Kevin

 

[Galapoheros]

But you need to pay attention to what they eat -- my impression from reading the description is that they are more selective that Hypoaspis sp.

And Hypoaspis have trouble with the larger spiders? I thought that I had read several stories here indicating that they work.

-Kevin

I Don't know. I haven't tried them on Ts. I read some people didn't have much success with them on T's. It wouldn't be because of size but I could see the hairs on Ts as being a problem for the hypos to travel over and maybe the webbing where they hang out as being a problem too, but I'm just speculating. But maybe the people that they didn't work for on their Ts have the soil too dry for the hypos to survive on. All the stuff I have that had the bad mites likes moist soil so the hypos reproduced so were more effective. It took several weeks for the hypos to eat all the bad mites off my centipedes. I've got some xeric scorps and sure hoping they don't get the bad mites because the hypos won't survive on the sub long enough to take care of the problem. It doesn't look to me like the bad mites need external moisture once they get on an animal... looks to me they just get it from the animal. I'm just going from exp. I haven't read much about it, ...speculating from what I've seen and trying to figure it out the best I can because.......MITES SUCK !