Mites and Pupa

Lula

Lula

L1
Hi! Could I please have some advice? I've had no mite issues in a long time and never major, but now I have a D. tityus pupa with some of the small light brown mites in its natural cell. All else looks fine. Are these mites cause to put it in an artificial cell or would I be overreacting? Does anyone know other methods to try while letting it remain in its own cell? There's still the dormant stage to consider as well. Thank you!!

 
Normally, I would not remove the mites/mite eggs from the pupae, as pupae are quite fragile and you can easily damage them. The mites cannot really harm pupa, but will crawl onto an adult beetle once it molted. Personally I would transfer it into an artificial pupal chamber (i make these out of floral foam) and once the beetle has molted I would remove and destroy (burn) the old pupal "skin". Any mites that crawled onto the beetle can be washed off with water sprinkler, but first you need to give a beetle several days until his elytra has hardened completely.

 
Thank you, Beetle-Experience!! I'm grateful to you both. I was hesitant to disturb her without experienced advice.

I moved her last night. I'm happy to say that the mites were few and focused on the shed larva skin. She didn't have any mites on her that I could see (not that they aren't there). I'll follow the rest of Max's advice through. Thanks again!

 
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