What the heck are these things!?

[Vanilla]

My friend wanted to know what these are and if they are harmful.She found hundreds of these things in her millipede enclosures...here are pics! HELP ASAP!

 

[edesign]

termites??? i dunno...

regardless, I would remove the millipedes from that enclosure until they can be ID'd or "disposed" of

what is that wet/slimey looking stuff in the top right of the first picture? Where did she get the substrate from (same with the food)?

 

[Vanilla]

Are they springtails? I was just looking at something with pics of springtails that looked similar.

Ummm...I am not exactly sure what substrate she uses,but I think there is soil there.I will ask later!

 

[edesign]

that could be...check out this image (found with Google image search):

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/entomology/ndsucpr/Years/2003/June/5/Springtail.jpg

 

[Taceas]

Do they hop if disturbed? If so, they're springtails. They are mostly harmless as they eat decaying organic matter and really thrive in moist enclosures. But they can have population explosions and be rather annoying buggers.

I would remove the millipedes and change out the substrate. For precautionary measures, I'd bag up the old substrate and freeze it overnight to prevent them from escaping out of the trash and setting up residence again. And I would also freeze the substrate bag he used originally as well, in case they came in that way.

 

[titus]

Their spingtails, great to have in any natural viv, they keep the viv clean of decaing plant matter they feed off of diffent molds for the most part. If you have frogs their a great sorce of vitamins. They shouldn't bother your milly at all. their actualy fairly benifical to any sumpland viv.

 

[Stylopidae]

F. candidia, I believe is the exact species. They're harmless.

Would you mind sending me some? My culture died off.

 

[KyuZo]

If i may, i would like to get some too please.
jason

 

[edesign]

do you two want to pay shipping from Newfoundland?

not sure if y'all noticed her location any permits needed to ship bugs like that across US-Canadian borders???

 

[Vanilla]

I can't send any! LOL...as mentioned,I live in Newfoundland and really I don't know how to go about shipping something like that.Sorry.

 

[danread]

F. candidia, I believe is the exact species. They're harmless.

Would you mind sending me some? My culture died off.

Although they are definitely Collembola, there is no way you can tell from those pictures if they are F. candida or not, there are hundreds of soil dwelling Collembolan species that look similar to that. From those pictures you can't even tell if they are Entomobryidae.

Either way, leave them in the enclosure, they are beneficial and will eat organic waste and help clean the tank.

 

[LeilaNami]

A population of springtails in a T enclosure can sometimes cause them to act like they're a little itchy