Are these mites?&Are these springtails macro pics

23229 Views 84 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Ed, Dec 18, 2011

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · Dec 8, 2011 (Edited)

I was looking at the springtails in my viv then I noticed what seemed to be tiny spiders crawling around and when i got a closer looked the first thing that came to mind was mites.
these guys are amber colored and are dark at the head and loose there color as you look down them.
here is some macro pics...the best I could get out of my dad's camera..

macro pics of the mites I zoomed in on lol, you can also see the springs in question.

here is a really good one I messed with paint and zoomed in then screen shot it lol.

if they are mites are the predator mites and do I need to get rid of them.
idk how I got them or where they cam from but they have just showed up

I'm pretty sure these are springtails(99.99%).....just wanted to post some pics of them and see what if thought others thought they were too.
I have posted another thread about these lil guys but until now I have never had such good pics.
I know they are local and they hitch hiked on some plants from Lowes.
here are some pics of me messing around with paint and zooming in on the macro pics....

they look white but really they are like a dull silver...metallic gray?lol
gray or silver springtails maybe?

thanks for your help

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21 - 40 of 85 Posts

james67

· #21 · Dec 9, 2011

i didnt draw any connection, just thought it an odd place to start posting.

welcome to the board alije
james

jbherpin

· #22 · Dec 9, 2011

james67 said:
i didnt draw any connection, just thought it an odd place to start posting.

welcome to the board alije
james

I thought it clearly a "troll gaze", but will support, it is an odd intial post. Personally, I wouldn't pull too far back, as you may be right.

Jbear

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #23 · Dec 9, 2011

well I will just try bombing and I might even try some mite spray for reptiles and such.

Think that would work JBear?

James I have asked you numerous times to just forget I exist and now you are here once again hijacking and derailing.

jbherpin

· #24 · Dec 9, 2011

jbherpin said:
I would rather rebuild at a loss than bomb.

JBear

This is my position.

JBear

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #25 · Dec 9, 2011

jbherpin said:
This is my position.

JBear

well I'm just not gonna tear down my entire viv.

maybe there is a way to starve the mites....if they are mites.

trust me they aren't ticks tho
this is a tick

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james67

· #26 · Dec 9, 2011

not ticks i assure you. the mite spray wouldnt be a good choice for anything inside a tank. mite spray (even those which say they are safe for use ON reptiles) shouldnt be used on frogs or in their enclosures.

if there were frogs in your tank they would be eating them and keeping the population controlled, but since there arent i fear that they might become so bountiful that when frogs are added the stress could kill the frogs.

like i mentioned earlier, bombing the tank with Co2 may put a damper on the mites, but it wont kill them all of as they can seek refuge in areas of the substrate where the gasses wont reach

i dont see any possibility of starving the mites. your pretty much stuck with them.

james

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #27 · Dec 10, 2011 (Edited)

well I think they might be spider mites...I'm almost sure of it from the reseach I have done.
there is now web stuff on the underside of some dying ivy leaves.
Looks like a bunch of eggs on there as well. White and black spots.

Insects on Shrubs

Spider Mites > Bonnie Plants > Pest Identification

Question is.....are they harmful to PDFs or just more food lol

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NVfrogger

· #28 · Dec 10, 2011

They will not hurt PDF as the feed off the plants but they could stress the PDF's in mass amounts however they are good food for PDF's mine eat them all the time.

Reactions: 1

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #29 · Dec 10, 2011

NVfrogger said:
They will not hurt PDF as the feed off the plants but they could stress the PDF's in mass amounts however they are good food for PDF's mine eat them all the time.

shew thank god I don't have to bomb or tear down

There aren't many in there at all and I searched the entire viv for traces and they was only on that ivy and I pulled it.
Thanks for the info

is there any safe way to treat my plants so they stay away from them?
I know cannabis growers have spider mite issues a lot lol.
When i was researching I saw a lot of it.

Boondoggle

· #30 · Dec 11, 2011

DragonSpirit1185 said:
is there any safe way to treat my plants so they stay away from them?

Anytime I add a new plant, I strip all dirt from it, wash it in the sink, soak it in a weak bleach solution, rinse until the smell is gone, then dry well. Doing that in the future will greatly reduce your chances of getting unwanted critters. I've built many vivs and so far the only hitch-hikers that have ever made it through all that were brom scale, and in one case, slugs.

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #31 · Dec 11, 2011 (Edited)

Boondoggle said:
Anytime I add a new plant, I strip all dirt from it, wash it in the sink, soak it in a weak bleach solution, rinse until the smell is gone, then dry well. Doing that in the future will greatly reduce your chances of getting unwanted critters. I've built many vivs and so far the only hitch-hikers that have ever made it through all that were brom scale, and in one case, slugs.

yeah I treated the plants. most didn't have dirt and were cuttings. 10% bleach solution. rinsed well. kinda gave em a shake like you would a ketchup bottle then laid them out on paper towels.
I have no clue where those mites came from unless they were here in the house cause they just appeared within the last week.
So far I have only seen 8 at the most and have killed each one and the ivy was the only place I found the webs.
I don't think they have had time to populate enough.
I think I got rid of their nesting area before it got really bad and I stand there and squish as many as I can see so it doesn't get out of control before I get the frogs.

Oddly enough those springs haven't populated that much.

NVfrogger

· #32 · Dec 11, 2011

I see mites from time to time in my vivs low populations. I have watched the frogs and when they see the mites they eat them quickly so if there are only a few they frogs will have them eaten fairly quickly. You will always have the possibility of seeing a few mites in your vivs as mites are everywhere.

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #33 · Dec 11, 2011

NVfrogger said:
I see mites from time to time in my vivs low populations. I have watched the frogs and when they see the mites they eat them quickly so if there are only a few they frogs will have them eaten fairly quickly. You will always have the possibility of seeing a few mites in your vivs as mites are everywhere.

yeah but I don't have frogs yet

idk when I will get any...these will be my first PDFs and I wanna take it slow and make sure I get culturing down

Gotta work on FF even when I decide I'm ready then I will put the money back and once the FF culturing is mastered then I will get my frogs lol it could be next spring

plus I want my viv to grow in some.
this one guy waited for his tank to grow in....5 months I think and look how great it looks

source: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/76457-frogs-last.html#post676149

plus I might get a couple more plants and I don't want to be planting and have frogs in there

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NVfrogger

· #34 · Dec 11, 2011

You will be ok.

james67

· #35 · Dec 11, 2011

NVfrogger said:
They will not hurt PDF as the feed off the plants but they could stress the PDF's in mass amounts however they are good food for PDF's mine eat them all the time.

i have seen first hand frogs die of stress related to microfauna. stating that it will be fine isnt entirely accurate. they might be ok, but they might not.

i doubt seriously that what you have are spider mites. its more likely that the web like things that your seeing are mycelium and completely unrelated to the mites.

james

DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #36 · Dec 11, 2011 (Edited)

james67 said:
i have seen first hand frogs die of stress related to microfauna. stating that it will be fine isnt entirely accurate. they might be ok, but they might not.

i doubt seriously that what you have are spider mites. its more likely that the web like things that your seeing are mycelium and completely unrelated to the mites.

james

really um cause the pics match....
the web wasn't there until the mites show up.
I know what research has show me.
Yeah it is just coincidence that these mites and webs appear at the same time. Highly unlikely and the webs match and so do the white and black spots in the web. Imagine someone taking specks of EcoEarth and tossing them into a spider web....that's what it looked like and the white spot's I'm guessing are the eggs.

mycelium is fungus and trust me I can tell between web and fungus.
here are some examples of what you claim it is.

It looks nothing like this....it actually looks like a web and there is tiny black dots some places and white on others.
The research pictures I found match.....these don't.

If these aren't what you are referring to then please provide me with a pic of what you mean.

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NathalieB

· #37 · Dec 11, 2011

I wouldn't worry too much about mites in the tanks unless you actually see them harming your plants or they get really out of control.

Some people do say mites are bad for frogs and stress them out. I put them in with the spoonful, especially with my pumilio offspring, they just love them.

In my experience you do have to make sure your frogs have the opportunity to "rinse" the mites off with water.
When I feed the mites the frogs will start feeding on them immediately and after a while they are usually covered with mites themselves. I can see it bothers them because they are scratching and twisting, trying to get them off. When it really bugs them too much they go to the water, submerge themselves and most of the mites will be gone. then they just return to the feeding-spot. I can imagine it would stress the hell out of them if they don't have a body of water to get rid of the mites.

this water doesn't have to be a pond or anything. big bromelia's with a larger volume of water are good enough. in the tanks that don't have any of those and don't have a pond area I just put a little cup with water whenever I feed the mites.

I think you will see your mite-"problem" dissapear as soon as you will have frogs in there

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DragonSpirit1185

Discussion Starter · #38 · Dec 11, 2011

NathalieB said:
I wouldn't worry too much about mites in the tanks unless you actually see them harming your plants or they get really out of control.

Some people do say mites are bad for frogs and stress them out. I put them in with the spoonful, especially with my pumilio offspring, they just love them.

In my experience you do have to make sure your frogs have the opportunity to "rinse" the mites off with water.
When I feed the mites the frogs will start feeding on them immediately and after a while they are usually covered with mites themselves. I can see it bothers them because they are scratching and twisting, trying to get them off. When it really bugs them too much they go to the water, submerge themselves and most of the mites will be gone. then they just return to the feeding-spot. I can imagine it would stress the hell out of them if they don't have a body of water to get rid of the mites.

this water doesn't have to be a pond or anything. big bromelia's with a larger volume of water are good enough. in the tanks that don't have any of those and don't have a pond area I just put a little cup with water whenever I feed the mites.

I think you will see your mite-"problem" dissapear as soon as you will have frogs in there

Yeah I have 3 broms in my viv. They are pretty big for the thumbnails I will be getting.
You can click the link in my signature below and check out the viv.
It's nothing compared to yours tho

Thanks for the info

NVfrogger

· #39 · Dec 11, 2011 (Edited)

Some spider mites do spin webs many of the spider mites that feed off the sap of plants found in the garden form webs. At low populations in a viv they should not stress frogs and will be food for the PDF's.

james67 said:
i have seen first hand frogs die of stress related to microfauna. stating that it will be fine isnt entirely accurate. they might be ok, but they might not.

i doubt seriously that what you have are spider mites. its more likely that the web like things that your seeing are mycelium and completely unrelated to the mites.

james

Brotherly Monkey

· #40 · Dec 11, 2011

DragonSpirit1185 said:
mycelium is fungus and trust me I can tell between web and fungus.

you'd be surprised. I've seen people confuse the two on numerous occasions. But if they are in your spring cultures, I doubt they are spider mites, unless you have plants in there

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