# fruit fly mites



## chadfarmer (Nov 2, 2008)

i am looking for a pic of fruit fly mites --- i need to be aware just in case

also anyone have pics of black mold


thx
Chad


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Good question to ask. Hope someone will be able to get pics of FF mites. I, too would like to see what they look like.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

chadfarmer said:


> i am looking for a pic of fruit fly mites --- i need to be aware just in case
> 
> also anyone have pics of black mold
> 
> ...


It would be nice if someone could post a pic of mites. I'm always looking at my cultures to see if anything else is moving in there.

I don't have a pic but bought a culture that turned out to develop black mold. You can't miss that one. It spreads like fire. I didn't even open it after seeing it. It went straight to the garbage.


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## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

Hey All,

Here is a picture of the mites that wiped out my cultures at one point.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/34389-help-pls-i-think-i-have-ff-mites.html

Hope this helps anyone looking for pics.
They are the little tiny tiny brown dots.

Regards,
Zee


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

ZeeMan said:


> Hey All,
> 
> Here is a picture of the mites that wiped out my cultures at one point.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the pic.

Aren't brown mites grain mites?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

They might be, there are a lot of types of mites but grain mites are going to be found in the dry premixed ff media unless sterilized.. 

Ed


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## Allyson (Oct 6, 2010)

How do you sterilize?


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## Parkway Drive (Aug 21, 2009)

Allyson said:


> How do you sterilize?


Microwave your cultures.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

While I have had a few cultures fall victim to "mite explosion," I have always found some mites in cultures-- particularly older ones. Generally, if the mite population doesn't explode, most cultures are fine coexisting with them.


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

I like to microwave my new cultures about 20 seconds and let cool down before adding the flies.


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

Add boiling water to your mix.


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

fleshfrombone said:


> add boiling water to your mix.


always boil water!!!!!!


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## Marconis (Jul 11, 2010)

Just curious, how long do you guys keep your water at a boil for?


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

I mix the vinegar and water in the appropriate proportions and microwave it for 3 minutes.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

People should also keep in mind that all we are doing is reducing the mite levels, we are not eliminating them. Unless you rear your fruitflies aseptically after demiting the eggs and transferring them to a new cultures, you should accept the fact that there is going to be some level of mite presence in the cultures. 

Ed


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