Fruit fly culture mites.

So I have seen threads requesting mite free cultures, and threads on what do do with infected cultures.

I think I read somewhere about "mite paper" ? that presumably prevents mites from getting into a culture.

I have also seen fantastic macro pics where mites are visible on mantids.

I have been keeping fruit fly cultures for over a year now...tried the homemade stuff and settled on the repashys with a bit of food coloring for fun, just helps me determine when to make start a new culture (as one ages the color reaches a point where you can tell you have a little over a week before the thing quits on you)

So here are my 2 questions...

First, having googled mites for images I wonder if a forum member has pictures that can be posted in responce to this thread so myself and others can watch for them....I have looked my two cultures over and see nothing...but who knows.

Second, what exactly is the problem...I would assume it would be that the mites might latch onto a mantis and, in large enough numbers, kill it or maybe infect a whole colony or collection? has anyone ever had such a disaster?

( I would certainly ditch an infested culture and start over if I found mites, but wonder what exact harm could occur. and I wonder if, untill more feeders could be sourced, a handfull of fruit flys fed to hungry nymphs would lead to greater loss than the cannabalism losses from going hungry?)

just curious

great thread! thank you!

im curious to all this as well.

this was the picture i found, and the ones that i have definitely look like this. i also read that these are medium mites. meaning they are harmless to the flies but infests the food (which seems to bee the case)

*So my questions are, to anyone that knows the answers. Are the flies still ok to feed to my mantids? (i did order new ones, but in the mean time...) also, i have been feeding them to my mantids already for along time, is there anything that i have to worry about?

I'm no expert, but it's my understanding that the mites we find in FF cultures compete with the FF's and can make a culture crash, but not directly harm the mantids.

I do not have photos of mites in cultures, but here, if u see tiny, and I mean tiny white dots moving around slowly crawling around on the cup then u can bet they are mites. But dont confuse them with maggots that are fresh hatched, the maggots will be longer and the mites will be in a water droplet shape, but as I said tiny. Also if a cultrue is infected bad, they will be on the outside of the cup and when picking the cup up.... u will feel them!

i actually thought they where like baby maggots and then they didnt get longer and then i noticed little legs.

hibiscusmile said:

I do not have photos of mites in cultures, but here, if u see tiny, and I mean tiny white dots moving around slowly crawling around on the cup then u can bet they are mites. But dont confuse them with maggots that are fresh hatched, the maggots will be longer and the mites will be in a water droplet shape, but as I said tiny. Also if a cultrue is infected bad, they will be on the outside of the cup and when picking the cup up.... u will feel them!

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yea, makes your skin crawl don't it? funny we play with cricks and mantis and they dont make hair stand on end, but give us something called a mite and watch us squirm!

I was wondering if anyone else who has experience with fruit fly cultures that have mites in them can comment on if the mites harm mantids? I see Paradoxica's post that fruit fly mites are harmless to mantids and would like to know if other people have also observed that the mites do not harm mantids?

jpusser510 said:

I was wondering if anyone else who has experience with fruit fly cultures that have mites in them can comment on if the mites harm mantids? I see Paradoxica's post that fruit fly mites are harmless to mantids and would like to know if other people have also observed that the mites do not harm mantids?

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I don't think there will be any harm to mantids. The mites may affect how well the cultures do so it is best to replace them.

Thanks for the quick reply Rick, thats good to know. I have two mite infested cultures that i will be replacing and i was concerned the flies could transfer mites to the mantids and harm them.

When you start the next culture you can put the flies in an empty container for half an hour to a number of hours to reduce mite transfer (do not shake directly from old culture). It is very difficult to eliminate them all but if you don't shake large mites into a newly started culture the flies should grow and crash long before the mites get to a visible number.

Ive been culturing hydei and melo fruit flies for close to five years now,started them for dart frogs.Now I feed them to the mantids,bettas,carnivorous plants,and the dart frogs.Ive had mites come and go from time to time,and never lost anything from eating them when they had mites.As others have said,and from what Ive heard/read,the mites are harmless to any of your pets,but do compete with the fruit flies which causes the cultures to crash a lot sooner.I found the diatomecous powder not sure if Im spelling that properly,but either way it seems to help keep the mites down.I cover the bottom of a sweater bin and keep the cultures in it with an inch of space between the cups so the mites cant walk from one cup to the other without going through the powder first.

Thank you Orin and dwalls247 for clarifying the mite issue and for the information. I just ordered some Diatomaceous powder to place around my fly cultures.

dwalls247 said:

Ive been culturing hydei and melo fruit flies for close to five years now,started them for dart frogs.Now I feed them to the mantids,bettas,carnivorous plants,and the dart frogs.Ive had mites come and go from time to time,and never lost anything from eating them when they had mites.As others have said,and from what Ive heard/read,the mites are harmless to any of your pets,but do compete with the fruit flies which causes the cultures to crash a lot sooner.I found the diatomecous powder not sure if Im spelling that properly,but either way it seems to help keep the mites down.I cover the bottom of a sweater bin and keep the cultures in it with an inch of space between the cups so the mites cant walk from one cup to the other without going through the powder first.

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I do the exact same as this. The diatomaceous really does wonders in keeping out the mites. The real trick is to ensure that no mantids come in contact with the powder - which I haven't had happen yet.