# Rapashy superfly and mites.



## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

I have just switched over to using superfly again and my golden hydei culture is just swarming with mites I mean mites by the thousands all over the lid all in the culture. There are still maggots in there and flies. I made this culture on 2/7 I think. Do mites just luv superfly or what. I have had mites with other suppliers brand but not this many. I have a culture with same base goldens and have no where near as many mites.


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Weird, I have no mite issues with superfly, or any other media for that matter. Could something else have happened. 11 days is a very short period of time for that many mites to be present if they didn't migrate from someplace else.


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

My other cultures have always or I should say recently had mites in them but nothing like this. I would go check on the date for sure and take a pic but I had to decontaminate myself already from picking it up the first time. I made some Turkish gliders on the same date and they have no where near this same number of mites and they are stored in the same location on mite paper.


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

Ok braved the mites culture was made on 2/4. Here are a few pics. I sprayed mite spray on the kid and sides donor killed a lot on the out side


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## Tincman (Jan 18, 2013)

Apologies in advance for rambling & for telling you probably 80% things you already know/do….Also IM half asleep so I hope this comes out in English.. Definitely not the media attracting mites any more then other media would, I make 10 Repashy Cultures a week without issue(In many ways I find it to be better then most medias as it tends to resist drying out better because it mixes well).. Try using some food grade Diatomaceous Earth underneath all of your cultures going forward…(Natural chemical free cost effective way to control mites & prevent cross culture contamination) By chance you think you got a bad batch of Superfly from a vendor that was kept to close to fly cultures & may have had mites crawling all over it that somehow got into the vacuum sealed bag upon opening, the Boiling the water used in making the culture should take care of that even.. you can also try shining a flashlight on the area where your cultures are, if you see a ton of mites crawling around it really wouldn't matter what media you're using as the mites will literally just walk right into your cultures & crawl into surrounding vivaria act.. I mean mites are the most annoying thing because they're almost always present in some quantity once they inhabit the surface your cultures are kept.. I find they can be kept under control with a few simple methods… Use newer cultures to make new cultures.. (there idea being to transfer less mites), Use a near expired supplement to dust the insects used in making new cultures..(the idea being the mites may have a harder time attaching to flies so less will attach to them at least initially…) Use a new container to transfer flies to new cultures (once again the idea being the containers used to feed frogs will have mites in them already so a new one will further limit mite transfer), I find the DE (Diatomaceous Earth) to be a pretty muc be an end all to the mite transfer issue which is perhaps the best way to control them.. Limit the transfer of them & over time through careful mindful culturing you can sort of phase them down to almost nothing… I literally sit all of my cultures on a 1/2" bed of the DE stuff & aside form what is in the culture already mite wise at least you know they aren't migrating between cups as the DE kills them safely & harmlessly. If you are truly infested Id also do a complete disinfecting mite spray wipe down of the entire area & everywhere cultures have been kept or stored… THen once the area is clean you can place your fresh started culture on the area & not worry about all of your hard work going to date when the mites just walk right into your new culture form the surface the old ones were kept on..As a last resort there are a few vendors that have somehow managed the miracle of no visible mites ion producing cultures… I find it amazing !lol But after you have a clean surface if you don't want to make your own new culture & would rather start fresh you can always do that as well.. Pat Nabors of Saurian has mite free cultures & Ive bought some & not even seen a mite in them.. Brad of Dendrobatti also mentioned to me he has mite free cultures as well… Good luck & hope you manage to get them under control.. I always post when I see mites in a thread.. I really hate them.. I feel if you dint want them you shouldn't have to put up with them..


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

Thank you for the advice I am going to try the DM earth. I don't think the mites came in on the superfly. But rather they produce just much quicker in it as do the flies. I get some of my best production using superfly but it also seems it get my best production of mites with it too. I will try the dusting before starting a new culture I tried it once before and all the flies died but at this point I will give it another go. As you can see I the culture I have a ton of maggots so I should still get a great production but lots of
Mites with it.


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

Food-grade DE and clean cultures to start with are the way to go. The media is not the problem here.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Are you culturing any other bugs near your fly cultures? Are you discarding the older cultures by the time they begin to dry out? 
Normally early cultures don't show this sort of mite explosion on their own unless there is a ready source close by the (like an overlooked older culture, mealworms or something similar). 

You can dust the adults with a fine calcium powder to get relatively mite free adults to start the next cultures, but I would place them in a seperate room until you get the mite bomb under control. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

The only other cultures on the same shelf are a couple of turkish gliders that were made on the same day/same media as this one and a 6oz dwarf white isopod culture, they are all on the same shelf with mite paper. The other cultures dont have any where near this many mites. Older cultures are moved down a shelf, with mite paper, I dont have any over 30days old. 

This culture has been moved out of the storage area where I keep all my cultures and is currently on my work bench in my garage on some mite paper. I have other golden cultures going using a different media so i just might trash this culture completely and use the powder technique mentioned to get rid of some/most mites before I start a new one with them.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

It doesn't have to be the same shelf.... it just has to be in the same room. 
Keep in mind that mite paper loses effectiveness over time so if it it is more than 6-8 weeks, it may not be working to keep the mites out of your cultures. 

Some comments 

Ed


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