Predatory Mites (Phytoseiulus persimilis)

[Snipes]

Does anyone use these? They are at beneficialbugs.com. They are the ones that eat the bad mites while leaving the tarantulas alone. Can they be kept alive without mites? Could i be able to get and culture some just in case of a mite infestation?

 

[billopelma]

The one I'm familiar with is Hypoapsis miles, and yes they are used to control mite infestations in herp/arachnid enviorns. What I have not been able to find out is how sustainable they are.

Bill

 

[insect714]

hope this helps...

Adult P. persimilis eat from 5-20 prey (eggs or mites) per day, they reproduce more quickly than the spider mites at temperatures above 28°C (82°F), and they feed on all stages of the twospotted spider mite. P. persimilis are very voracious. They have the highest consumption rate of all phytoseiids. However, they absolutely must have spider mite prey or they will disperse and/or starve.

 

[Snipes]

dang, then i guess in order to have a culture of them, i will also have to wait until a mite outbreak and then culture THEM lol

 

[Cirith Ungol]

dang, then i guess in order to have a culture of them, i will also have to wait until a mite outbreak and then culture THEM lol

The best bet (yet) at sustaining a H.miles colony is by doing this:
Take an airtight container, put a layer of moist peat into it, put some fresh crix corpses in there (not too many) and then put it in a dark and not too warm place. Every month you add a little mound of peat onto the surface of the old peat. Let the new peat be dry, it will eventually suck up some of the moisture of the other peat.

This way I've been able to sustain H. miles for over a year now. The numbers arn't great, but at least they are still alive.

The moist peat gives them a feeding ground and a place to lay eggs. The crix remains will either let them eat (if they eat remains - I'm not sure myself) or let onther mites eat. The mounds of new peat will give H. miles more mites to feed on. Temp should be lower room temperature, but if it gets too cold H.miles won't make it, if it gets too warm they'll also need lots more food and you risk starving them.

P.S. Wrong forum btw Mites are spiders hehe

 

[Digby Rigby]

Predatory Mites

Predatory mites will not eliminate the bad mites what they will do is keep the numbers down. Like other biological controls they will help to contain but not eliminate the mites you want to get rid of completely. When it comes to mites you dont want to control them you want to eliminate them.

Digby Rigby

DigbyRigby@exoticfeeders.com