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Help Identifying these mites.
- Thread starter Regan
- Start date
Fishfur
Member
Underwater or emersed?
If emersed, could be clover mites - harmless but can be very annoying and sometime show up in substantial numbers.
Could be red velvet mites - one of the Trombidiidae. They are predatory & consume other troublesome mites so they’re often used as a biological control for plant pests like red spider mites.
Mites are arachnids so they’re tougher to kill than many insects & you want to avoid doing collateral damage.
A spray with diluted rubbing alcohol will kill them by way of dehydration but it will also harm numerous other tiny fauna. It won’t necessarily harm the plants - much depends on the species of plant & its situation.
If emersed, could be clover mites - harmless but can be very annoying and sometime show up in substantial numbers.
Could be red velvet mites - one of the Trombidiidae. They are predatory & consume other troublesome mites so they’re often used as a biological control for plant pests like red spider mites.
Mites are arachnids so they’re tougher to kill than many insects & you want to avoid doing collateral damage.
A spray with diluted rubbing alcohol will kill them by way of dehydration but it will also harm numerous other tiny fauna. It won’t necessarily harm the plants - much depends on the species of plant & its situation.
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Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Underwater? <"Hydrachnidia - Wikipedia">. We get them a lot in samples from streams and ponds, but we don't try and identify them.
I expect they will decline again, but @Fishfur has pointed out the issue with trying to remove them.
cheers Darrel
Fishfur
Member
I though I should ask if it’s emersed or submersed since there are some surprises that show up underwater now & then.
Fishfur
Member
Ah, well then, they’ll likely be one of the Hydracarina - aquatic mites. They & their relatives are extremely common worldwide but very little is known about them.
Fish may not eat them as apparently they don’t taste very good.
Their larvae are parasites of insect larvae but the adults are predatory.
I can find no suggestions for control methods though I would think siphoning them out might reduce their numbers.
Fish may not eat them as apparently they don’t taste very good.
Their larvae are parasites of insect larvae but the adults are predatory.
I can find no suggestions for control methods though I would think siphoning them out might reduce their numbers.
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tam
Member
- Joined
- 5 May 2011
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- 1,586
Maybe alter the conditions within bounds of what's acceptable to any other occupants e.g. raise or lower the temp, if you have high flow then lower it and vis versa. They obviously like what you have so try and make it less suited. Do they seem to like anything particularly e.g. will they converge on food? If so perhaps trapping would work otherwise I agree with syphoning.
Fishfur
Member
It’s not impossible that they would prey on shrimplets at least when they are newly hatched,
They are known to eat the larvae of midges, mosquitoes & small Diptera species, an assortment of aquatic worms, copepods, ostracods & no doubt a number of other things.
They are known to eat the larvae of midges, mosquitoes & small Diptera species, an assortment of aquatic worms, copepods, ostracods & no doubt a number of other things.
