# springtail overrun!!



## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

Recently, I used the last of the soil/compost mix from a springtail culture to seed a new tank prior to the arrival of my bastis. I think I have mentioned that I am a little lazy, so I didn't wash the tupperware, just added oatmeal, cornmeal, and leftovers for a mealworm colony. The springtails have gone absolutely insane-as in visibly overrunning the tupperware, a sheet of them on the table it was sitting on, a pool of them on the floor...I've been sitting the container on the top of screened tanks, and its still (a week later) got mass exodus of springtails. Is this a mix that just creates springtail nirvana? Has anyone else had an explosion like this? Have a stumbled onto a new and more effective way to grow them?? I'm telling you, I have never seen anything like it, and I have had the colonies for two years now.


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## elscotto (Mar 1, 2005)

fishdoc said:


> Recently, I used the last of the soil/compost mix from a springtail culture to seed a new tank prior to the arrival of my bastis. I think I have mentioned that I am a little lazy, so I didn't wash the tupperware, just added oatmeal, cornmeal, and leftovers for a mealworm colony. The springtails have gone absolutely insane-as in visibly overrunning the tupperware, a sheet of them on the table it was sitting on, a pool of them on the floor...I've been sitting the container on the top of screened tanks, and its still (a week later) got mass exodus of springtails. Is this a mix that just creates springtail nirvana? Has anyone else had an explosion like this? Have a stumbled onto a new and more effective way to grow them?? I'm telling you, I have never seen anything like it, and I have had the colonies for two years now.


You mean wet oatmeal or dry? Are you sure you didn't get an explosion of mites instead of springtails?
-Scott


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

dry oatmeal....they look like springtails- at that size how could you tell the difference? Do mites eat oatmeal and cornmeal? I am assuming they are springtails because that is what the original culture was, and there were remnants of soil in the corners of the container. I guess I would like someone else to do the same experiment, and see what happens.


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## elscotto (Mar 1, 2005)

fishdoc said:


> dry oatmeal....they look like springtails- at that size how could you tell the difference? Do mites eat oatmeal and cornmeal? I am assuming they are springtails because that is what the original culture was, and there were remnants of soil in the corners of the container. I guess I would like someone else to do the same experiment, and see what happens.


I meant that a dry culture could not support springtails, so they need to be something else. Yes, mites would eat oatmeal and cornmeal. By the way you describe them all around the container, it sounds like an explosion of mites. Mites are generally the same size as springtails, often off-white, but are a bit rounder, and don't jump when you touch them.


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

SOOOO, do frogs eat them?? Am I seeding my tanks with vermin??


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Breathe hard on the culture / media.

If they are springs...they will scurry and jump and generally be "faster"..more likely to be white and pencil shaped

If they are mites...rounder....they will just crawl and not jump......much "slower" and not white in colour.


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

so, if they are mites, are they the same mites that people say will kill a fruit fly culture? Wouldn't it be interesting if I have been culturing killer mites? Long sigh.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Killer mites.....not accurate as they are probably not predatory, i.e..not sucking the blood out of the springs.

they are more likely....grain mites - eating the oatmeal and grains that thier parents eggs probably rode in on. Think about that while you have that bowl of cinnimon oates in the morning 

NOT that big a deal.....frogs will even eat those mites.

Here's some cool pics to tide you over...

The Scorpion Fauna - The "Enemies and Diseases" gallery


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

crap- googled em, and "The life cycle from egg to adult takes only about two weeks at normal room temperatures. Overcrowding in heavily infested products will force mites to move off in search of other food sources. This "spill over" can produce a fine dust-like layer of these mites on a shelf, product bag, or counter. This "mite dust" is often the first sign of trouble and usually means there are one or more heavily infested items not far away." If spill over is a sign, I'm infested!! Good thing I'm not a picky eater. If these things are so prolific and easy to culture.....???? Why aren't we feeding them?


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

The thought of mites makes me itchy! Have your face or arms be itchy?













Bet you they are now


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

high humidity and a grain source is a recipe for a grain mite population explosion, yes they are one of the mites that attacks ff cultures and can decrease productivity or potentially crash a culture if in great enough numbers. 

Ed


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

well, I huffed and I puffed and not one darn white dot jumped. My bubble burstes. No, arms ok,,,, my head on the other hand.... And I spread the darn things all over the house, putting it on top of tanks so the overflow would go into the tanks!!! My frogs heads probably itch. Oh well, live and learn...


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

lol....you fed that cuture too much at one time. That allowed the mites to get a foothold and now they outcompete the springs.

ah...the miracle of life.....HIDE ALL YOUR CAPTAIN CRUNCH!! 

Don't worry....your house is not infected.


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## rollei (Jun 4, 2009)

Vaccum cleaner?


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

lets not get carried away... besides my carpet is shades of beige, ...


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

fishdoc said:


> lets not get carried away... besides my carpet is shades of beige, ...


Borax will kill them in your carpet. Laundry isle at the grocery store. Safe too!


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

safe for cats? I guess the big question-is it necessary? Won't they die a natural death, unable to reproduce without a grain source.... or am I in for a horror flick?? Mite attack in the dead of night- they find my lifeless body crawling with .... frogs starving because I've been gone so long....


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

fishdoc said:


> safe for cats? I guess the big question-is it necessary? Won't they die a natural death, unable to reproduce without a grain source.... or am I in for a horror flick?? Mite attack in the dead of night- they find my lifeless body crawling with .... frogs starving because I've been gone so long....


Eventually. Some frogs will eat them particularly if they are small but mainly they might cause some allergy problems... 
Pretty much all grain based products have them.. particuarly those that have been stored... 

Ed


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

fishdoc said:


> safe for cats? I guess the big question-is it necessary? Won't they die a natural death, unable to reproduce without a grain source.... or am I in for a horror flick?? Mite attack in the dead of night- they find my lifeless body crawling with .... frogs starving because I've been gone so long....


I'm not sure if it would be safe for cats. I haven't had to deal with a mite outbreak and hope I don't have to. My cultures stand is like a mite mine feild! My understanding is they will migrate until they find a food source they can get into. Jump on your pants, your cat, etc. I don't think it's that big of a deal to try and eliminate most of them by wiping down the bad areas with a mite killer. We have to keep in mind that mites are everywhere. In our food, on us and furniture. It just depends on the kind of mite you're dealing with.

I hope someone else can ad to this


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

The biggest "bang fer yer buck" ?

Blue mite paper....be sure to change it out every 3-6 months and store the unused paper in a plastic box or tube - sealed, for max potency.

Not only will the paper do a great job protecting your evenly spaced cultures that sit on top of it....it will allow you to see, or perhaps "gauge" the size of your potential mite problem.

You will, at some point, begin to see some brownish "dust" on the blue paper. That is the mite carcass piles from them trying to move on the paper and thier dead bodies piling up.

Again....seriously....do some searching on here for "Mites" and related threads. EVERYONE gets them at some point unless you are that guy that lives in the all white high-rise million dollar apartment in the movie "Creepshow". No wait.....he got them too...actually roaches, and not the Dubia kind either.


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