Mites in the winter

[daniele]

Hi guys,

do you think that Riccardoella mites can develop or survive in the winter?

My snails live outside, on the balcony, I never introduced any infected guy, I'm sure because every snail I found in vegetables this winter was checked by the vet before to be introduced and poops were analized too (you know against other kind of problems). 

Problem, is that I found a little white guy of shape and color resembling those hateful mites, it was walking amid  springtails, and could be a different springtail kind too (since I know that also round shaped springtails exist), but still I'm worrying!

I've read they need 20/25 degrees to develop, but what abt surviving? 

It could have been introduced together with some greenhouse plants for example

[morningcoffee]

Mar 1, 2021 17:15:20 GMT daniele said:

Hi guys,

do you think that Riccardoella mites can develop or survive in the winter?

My snails live outside, on the balcony, I never introduced any infected guy, I'm sure because every snail I found in vegetables this winter was checked by the vet before to be introduced and poops were analized too (you know against other kind of problems). 

Problem, is that I found a little white guy of shape and color resembling those hateful mites, it was walking amid  springtails, and could be a different springtail kind too (since I know that also round shaped springtails exist), but still I'm worrying!

I've read they need 20/25 degrees to develop, but what abt surviving? 

It could have been introduced together with some greenhouse plants for example

I'd say that unless it was on your snail, it should be nothing to worry about for now. If you see more than one of them actually on your snail's body, it could be a cause for concern.
Riccardoella mites can apparently survive on slugs and snails over winter but their activity is significantly reduced. I've also read that they can hide themselves under bark or other places to survive winter and re-emerge in spring.

[daniele]

Thank you so much!

While checking them tonight (the few that are awake, since most of them are hibernating) I found one of those guys walking on the shell of a snail, that's the only thing I found after two hours of checking over 4 snails, and after the suspected mite arrived to the end of the shell and came in contact with the body, he went back on the shell immediately.

I was only able to take two unclear pics and a short video, observed it for a couple of minutes, then I tried to touch it with a toothpick to see if it would jump, and unfortunately killed it.. Anyway tomorrow I'll post the pics! thanks again

[snaileyhammy]

It doesn’t sound that concerning, but since your snails are outdoors they have a greater risk so I would check often.