Help! Mites on larvae?!?

[charx53]

I was moving a couple larvae to different containers and noticed small mite like things crawling on them. They're light, white colored. What do I do to get rid of them? Are they harmful or will they kill my larvae?

 

I'm not sure what caused it or if this is normal? I don't know if they were there when I got them. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!

[miwu]

It's normal and there isn't really any way to get rid of them completely. You can use a soft brush to lightly brush them off and/or carefully rinse the larvae under running water. But, the mites are normal and will almost always be present.

[charx53]

Oh okay, thanks makes me feel better. Why is it they are there and appear?

[Pewrune]

The mother could have carried mites into the substrate.

 

And if you added dog food or other protein in the substrate, the mites reproduce rapidly.

[Ratmosphere]

Brush the mites off with a children's paintbrush, squash them, heat treat the substrate and rinse the container. This has worked for me almost every time.

[Nathan]

I had eight or so L3 D. tityus larvae that were heavily infested with mites. I placed them in clean dry containers with dry, finely ground leaves for about 5 days and that completely eliminated the mites. I put just enough ground leaves in the containers to cover them by an inch. They did loose a few grams during treatment, but they quickly regained it when placed back into clean substrate.

 

Smaller larvae might not be able to survive such treatment. I wouldn't try this with L1 tityus or similar sized larvae. A hundred or so mites on a L3 tityus isn't a big concern. Larvae didn't show any signs of distress from the mites so I only treated the ones with the worst infestations.