Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found that my fruit fly colonies were not producing many flies. On closer inspection I found that they were crawling with mites. I'm too cheap to buy new colonies so, being an entomologist, I decided to fix the colonies I had. My first attempt was to start a new colony using only larvae from an infested colony since supposedly the new colonies get infested from mites that come in with the adult flies, This worked, but it was a lot of trouble. Next I tried a method that I, and a lot of other beekeepers, use to get varroa mite off of honeybees. This method has worked very well and now all my new colonies have been mite free for three generations now. Here's what you do. Every time you start a new colony, dust the flies in about a tablespoon of flour. Let them sit in it for about ten seconds and then sift off the excess flour through a screen (I use a kitchen strainer). The mites are unable to hold on to the flies because the flour interferes with their ability to adhere to them. You should also keep your new colonies in a different spot from the infested ones so that mites don't walk over and re-infest them. It's probably not a bad idea to dust the sedd flies as a preventative maintainence as well. It also makes it easier to transfer the flies as they are somewhat immobilized as when dusted with vitamins. Hope this helps.

Craig

PS Here is a picture of my tank.

I know this post was concerning mites but I had to say great job on the tank. It looks awesome. As far as the mites go I would get new cultures and completely clean the area you keep your cultures with a mild bleach and water mixture.

TonyT

That is really an ingenious idea! Thanks a lot for sharing your discovery, Im sure it will help many of us. In fact, Ive been having a problem with mites breeding in my pinhead cultures. I might try "flouring" the adult crickets before I put them in to lay because thats probably where the mites originate from. You should consider sending this information to Reptiles magazine, they might print it! Thanks again.
-David Taylor

Great Idea ! I've got a minor mite problem right now. I'll sure thry this out when starting new cultures.

Marty

What happens to the mites? Even if they do not stay on the flies, how do you make sure they do not fall into the new culture with the flies?

Chris D.

Unless you use a very fine screen to sift off the flour, the mites will go down the sink with the bulk of the flour. If a few mites do get into the cultures they will not likely be able to reproduce quickly enough to aeriously affect the egg survival right away. If you treat them for each new culture you can keep the mite population from ever being able diminish your fly population, if not eliminate the mites all together.

mites have the ability to migrate, and its possible that their may be more outside of the container than in it. The only sure way to control the problem is to set up new mite free cultures in an enviornment that would prevent mites from from entering. My experience shows me that they cannot be eradicated but they can be controlled. Their are chemicals that can help. Repunzel