Predatory mites

[DylanScully009]

I am using predatory mites to handle a small amount of mites I found in my collection. Can predatory mites mess with egg sacs?

Thanks

 

[PidderPeets]

I am using predatory mites to handle a small amount of mites I found in my collection. Can predatory mites mess with egg sacs?

Thanks

I could be wrong, but I thought predatory mites were generally specialists, meaning they would only go after whatever they're made to hunt. That added to the fact that eggs are usually protected with multiple layers of thick webbing, means the eggsac should be fine.

Did you just not like the look of the grain mites you had before getting the predatory mites? Grain mites are completely harmless to a T, and are actually somewhat beneficial, as they work as a free cleanup crew.

 

[DylanScully009]

Hi thank you for the reply! They seem specialized to me too. However, I ordered H. miles from arbico organics and they have some really nice information in the animal, including that it eats fly gnats, mites, and a couple other things, which seems a little less specialized to me so I was worried.

Yeah, I saw the post right away on the forums saying that as long as the numbers weren’t bad, it probably isn’t an issue, with the exception of parasitic mites which are rare and only really seen with wild caught specimens. Here’s my problem; I bought a tarantula at a reptile show numerous months ago and it was missing two legs. Upon research this is endemic of poorly treated wild tarantulas. It recently molted and I was checking out it’s molt, and it had numerous mites on the fangs. That led me to inspect my ornatas, and I found a mite on them. My ornatas aren’t really replaceable for me, so I chose what seemed the safe option, given the possibility that the sick t came from the wild.

Definitely made a mistake getting that tarantula and it’s not one I’ll make again.

I removed the sick spider and everything associated with it, I’m changing the dirt on my ornatas, wiping down the large areas of glass in their enclosures, and doing the predatory mites. I’m not ICU’ing any. I’m hoping that my plan is responsive enough to be effective but not too much to be a harm. I think I’ve found a good balance.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

@boina Cora, I miss you

 

[Polenth]

Predatory mites tend to be pants at eating parasitic mites. They will destroy any springtail populations though.

This is assuming the mites are parasitic, which you can't assume just because they're on the tarantula. Some mites just like to hitch a ride to the food. If they're that sort of mite, the predatory mites probably will eat them, but it's not going to be why the sick tarantula is sick.

 

[DylanScully009]

Pants?

 

[RezonantVoid]

I've tried many times using predatory mites to remove parasitic ones from my T (confirmed parasites, never around the fangs like hitchhiker ones are and only target soft joints) and they just don't work. The T will flick the predatory ones off. The best bet is introducing them while the T is still molting and the parasitic ones are frantically running looking for a new host. The T can't flick them off in that state either.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Pants?

English slang for rubbish/crap/bad

 

[sourpatchkid]

Are you using Phytoseiulus persimilis or Neoseoulius?

 

[Polenth]

Pants?

Bad. To expand on that, here's a study on Stratiolaelaps scimitus (which was Hypoaspis miles) predating on parasitic honey bee mites: Risk assessment and predation potential of Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Acari: Laelapidae) to control Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in honey bees - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208812

It turned out they'd only really go for mites that had fallen off the bees, even when the predatory mites were placed directly on the bees. The predatory mites show a preference for being in the substrate (which for a hive, is the debris that builds up at the bottom). Though the mites would eat bee eggs when offered them, they didn't in the actual hive, so hard to say if they could reach tarantula eggs without testing it.

Also note the paper mentions that parasitic mites tend to go for the joints. Around the fangs makes me think these are just mites looking to share the tarantula's food.

I tried predatory mites years back when I first kept hissing cockroaches. They do well for cutting down on grain mites, but they're also overkill for that. There are better ways to handle grain mites that won't involve losing your cleanup crew. I didn't have any moist tanks with springtails back then, so nothing was lost from trying them out. It's not something I'd do these days.

 

[DylanScully009]

Neither; Stratiolaelaps scimitus

 

[DylanScully009]

That is amazing info thank you!!!!