Hypoaspis Breakthrough!

[Paul]

I've had a breakthrough with the Hypoaspis. I know how to keep a colony alive indefinitely without resorting to bringing pest-ridden soil in from outside to feed them. It's been staring me in the face and I didn't see it.

But having just received some more I've tested the theory.

The idea is to keep a large tub with my Hypoaspis colony and a smaller tub with springtails in. I can isolate them, and I occasionally get them in the odd tank (don't we all). They're non-pests, harmless to snails and they breed like wildfire, meaning they can easily be used as food.

All I had to do was test the theory, to make sure they will actually eat them so I put a colony of springtails (around 50) in a tub and added quite a few Hypoaspis. Two days later, all the springtails are gone, the mites are larger so it was a 100% success.

So, it will be a simple matter to breed Hypoaspis in the future and to keep them indefinitely. And if I did send someone some, and there was still the odd springtail in the soil, it wouldn't harm the snails or become pests in the target tank.

Finally, we may be able to get a reliable, safe pest eradicator which doesn't cost the earth and that you don't have to buy by the 10000!!!

Lisa and Sian, sorry I haven't sent the mites, not been home all this week, so I've not been able to send them. I'm gonna pack them up this week and send them monday or tuesday without fail.

[section8angel]

Yippee! Well done Paul.

And no probs, you send them when you're able. It will be nice to find out what mine are but I'm not impatient to get the creepy things lol

[Arno]

Good job Paul.I could certainly use of a few of those Hypoapsis...do they eat Grainmoths?lol

[LisaLQ]

That's great Paul, well done

And as Sian said, dont worry about rushing, any time is fab as you're doing me a great favour ;D

[copigeon]

How do you repoduce the springtails paul? Do they require a certain setup (dark tub? funny substrate?) to multiply at the best rate? (and be controlable for the sake of feeding.)
I know you can buy sprintail colonies for feeding frogs.

[Paul]

Springtails just need moisture and food to reproduce and boy do they do a good job. If you put fruit that is going mushy in a tub with springtails they'll reproduce at a rate of knots, particularly because there are no predators. I reckon a couple can turn into a big colony in a week.

[Paul]

Arno, Hypoaspis are sold to control Scairid Fly Larvae which are 4-6mm long. I've just had a quick look on google and found out that Grain Moth larvae are about 5mm long (if it's the same species because grain moth seems to cover many) so I can't see why Hypoaspis couldn't manage to eat them also.