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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 3, 2015 13:15:15 GMT
In my west Pheidole pallidula nest there is a single pale orange mite clinging to the back of a worker. This mite must have come in on a fly, as it was not there a few days ago. There is unfortunately nothing I can do as it is inside the main brood chamber, so I hope it doesn't get onto the queen and cause any problems.
At least it is just a single mite so hopefully there shouldn't be an infestation of these pesky little critters.
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Post by Thebugman on Jun 3, 2015 13:18:53 GMT
Lemon juice is supposed to kill mites, or a grape in the foraging area may make the mite feed on that rather than your ants!
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 3, 2015 13:26:38 GMT
Lemon juice is supposed to kill mites, or a grape in the foraging area may make the mite feed on that rather than your ants! I don't think it actually feeding on the ant, just hitching a free ride. It may perhaps try to eat any eggs, so I will try the grape idea as we have some in at the moment. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2015 14:33:39 GMT
I tackled a load of mites in my old Myrmica rubra colony. I spotted them in the foraging area and they didn't seem to be bothering the ants, just feeding on waste. I used a raisin to attract most of them so I could remove them, then I used a mist of concentrated lemon juice to get rid of the rest.
The odd thing was, they were not really affecting the ants, but still take precautions as they might be a different type of 'mite'.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 3, 2015 14:56:22 GMT
I would be happier if the worker carrying the mite around were to come out from the nest, as the colony are in an acrylic nest and the ant and mite are not for leaving as yet. I think in future we will freeze any insect prey to kill off any mites before feeding them to our ants, as this is probably how it got into the nest; and even though it does not appear to be harming the ants or brood I will still take steps to get rid of this intruder a.s.a.p.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 6, 2015 7:26:02 GMT
The worker still has the mite on it and refuses to leave the nest. As the worker is only about 2 mm then the mite must be under 1 millimetre? It does not appear to be harming the ant, but it might be if it is taking food from the ants mouth making it an unwelcome guest in the colony.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 18, 2015 8:34:24 GMT
I cannot see the mite that has been riding around on one of my Pheidole workers in the west colony today, so I am hoping it has either died or been killed and removed by the workers? I have carefully checked each and every worker, soldier and the queen, and the darn thing has just vanished, so I hope that this is the end of the mite problem? I hope I am right and this colony is now mite free?  |
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