white dust mites in mealworm beetles???

[Neill]

SO today i checked on my mealworm beetles and noticed 1000s of little moving specks of white dust. Are these grain mites? Do i need to just toss the whole colony? Any ideas?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Those would be baby worms, invisible to the naked eye, but moving around in the substrate.

 

[Neill]

They where all up the sides of the bin, the to,p and the outside of the bin... you sure they are worms... if so i just killed all them by wiping them down with a wet sponge. If there in substrate there still alive but these where all over the bin, the top of the lid, and even outside of the bin. I didn't think these worms could climb.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

No, they sure don't climb. Bummer.

 

[Neill]

I took some pics, god they are all over the place! Any way i can save the beetles?

All those little white spots are moving.

 

[Neill]

Bad to worse! They are all over the top of the fridge EVERYWHERE! IM just tossing everything and spraying everything down with a bleach soap solution because im not having them t fer to my vivs or roach colony!

Note to self never try a mealworm colony again!

PS If anyone knows how this even happened I would love to know. As i was taking food in and out and it was right under AC so no humidity.

 

[TokayKeeper]

PS If anyone knows how this even happened I would love to know. As i was taking food in and out and it was right under AC so no humidity.

you still had humidity issues. I've cut out large sections in my tub lids and then riveted quarter inch hardware clothe (actually screen) into place. No more grain mites for me.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I don't cover my worms that are in tubs and the ones in a drawer storage are left open at least several inches.

 

[gothra]

They sure are grain mites; and you seem to have an explosion of them. They come from the oats you used and when humidity is right (anywhere above 50%) they'll start to breed out of control. I had a serious infestation many years ago, I threw out everything, wiped all surfaces with bleach water, then I thought I cleared them. I moved out the apartment several months later, the apartment remained vacant for a month, and when I went back to pick up some stuff...the rack that I used to put my worm bins were covered with grain mites again!! There were so many of them that they were literally rolling off each other like snowballs!!

So, in order to prevent an infestation in the future, I would bake all oats and cereals before I put them out in the open. The heat will kill off any mites or eggs in there. Maximise ventilation - which means no lid for all the tubs or bins. Also, try to keep humidity below 50%.