# mites with fruitfly culture?



## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

Hi,

Last night I realised i had tiny white mites in my fruitfly culture there only in one specific spot, I was wondering if they are going to be a problem, what should i do about it? because the larvae etc all seem fine and some are nearly pupated. 

isit a problem?

what do i do?

Thanks


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## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

anybody?


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## jonnyboy86 (Jul 7, 2009)

big problem mate, i have the same problem every time with mites! i hate them. the mites will multiply fast and will eventually be everywhere. you will still get some flys from your culture, but its long term prospects arent looking good. 

i could never get rid of mites or stop them getting in my cultures. 

hopefully somone will give you some better news lol!


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## berksmike (Jan 2, 2008)

Regularly making up new cultures really helps keeps mite numbers down - i dust my fruit flies and then shake the excess (and hopefully mites) using a fine sieve when Im making new ones.
This will help plus keeping your cultures in shallow water or on antimite paper.
Try not to keep old cultures hanging around and wash hands after handling each culture as they easily spread via your hands.
Hope this helps


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## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

Thank you, I have ordered a new culture from the shops, to start a fresh new culture
What is mite paper? What could I keep adding to the culture to keep it wet? 


Thanks


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## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

Thank you, I have ordered a new culture from the shops, to start a fresh new culture
What is mite paper? What could I keep adding to the culture to keep it wet? 


Thanks


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## berksmike (Jan 2, 2008)

You can buy rolls of mite paper from www.dartfrog.co.uk
You dont keep the actual cultures wet you just stand your cultures in a tray of water


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## tom and tina (Oct 28, 2009)

I find that making new cultures helps. When i see a load of ff hatching, i make a few cultures. When making my mixture i add some cider vinegar (1 teaspoon) to the mix, but this is more to prevent them in the first place. When i pooter my ff, i let them jump out onto a work surface and then pooter them up from there. I will only add around 20 ff to a culture, and i keep all my new cultures far away from the old ones.
I think somebody said they are only cheese mites, but still a pain. They can grab ahold of your cultures and end up everywhere (i even had them in my frogs water dish :eek4:, and they have a big distance between them).
I tag my cultures so i know when i made them and only keep them for 6 weeks max, and so far (touch wood) so good


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## tom and tina (Oct 28, 2009)

oh and your new culture will more than likely have them too so as soon as it starts hatching, start a few cultures


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## gray1 (May 24, 2010)

Like someone else said, just add a teaspoon of vinegar when you make a new culture, by the time the mites show up it will be time to kill the culture off.

The mites aren't particulary bad though, they just compete for food. If your culture is overrun with them add a slice of banana to keep it going for a bit longer.


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## Marcin123 (Mar 4, 2013)

*Praying mantis*

What would happen when you have mites in your fruit fly culture and you feed it to your praying mantis, would the mites harm the mantis :eek4:


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