Grindal Worm Eggs?

[JasonC]

So I have a struggling grindal worm culture that I am trying to revive. In the culture I am noticing a ton of small (less than 1mm) white spheres. They dont *seem* to move, but when I add food to the culture, more of them appear on the new food. Are these eggs? They have been there for over a month now and the number only seems to increase... and I am not seeing an appreciable increase to the grindal worms. I had a fruit fly infestation for a while on the culture, but I am not seeing any more maggots. Also not seeing any concerning numbers of mites. So are these eggs, or do I have another invader that is inhibiting the culture?

 

[DBlauj]

It's weird my recent culture has had the same thing happen as well. After a few weeks I noticed little bugs which I assume are mites (never had them in my culutres before). I think I'm going to grab a couple of worms and rinse them in some water and start a new culture. Probably going to trash this one unless others have ideas on how to save it. I don't know where the eggs came from other than I used different soil this time around.

 

[gerald]

If the white spheres are only on the rotting food, they might be fungus hyphae (tiny "mushrooms").

 

[JasonC]

Unfortunately, the white spheres are located all over the top scrubbie (soilless culture).

 

[gerald]

I'm still guessing it's fungus/mold. I've seen healthy productive grindal worm cultures (that obviously must have lots of eggs) and they do not have conspicuous white spheres all over the surface. Eggs (actually "cocoons" with multiple eggs inside) are probably laid down in the media.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

or do I have another invader that is inhibiting the culture?

They are Flour or Cereal Mites (Acarus siro). Cereal mites just compete with the Grindal worms for food, and you can control them by feeding Rolled Oats rather than "instant porridge oats". I just add the oats under the glass and then wait a couple of days, without feeding. The Grindal worms will disappear back into the compost, but the Cereal mites will have a field day amongst the Oat grains, meaning that you can skim the whole surface layer off mites and oats off (I just use a spoon) and dispose of it.

After that I then deliberately flood the culture, and remaining mites will climb up the walls, wipe them off and re-culture using 1/2 drier potting compost. I know when I have to act because you get a sickly sweet smell from the mites.

I've never managed to get rid of the mites all together. An occasional stir of the compost seems to help with control.

cheers Darrel

 

[gerald]

Hmm ... i didn't realize Acarus mites are white and round. Guess you'll need a magnifying lens to see if the spheres are mites or mold (or both) - unless of course you see them crawling.

 

[JasonC]

googled some pics of the Acarus mites, and we may have a match... The bulbous white body does look quite similar. Gerald, all the pics of hyphae looked more stringy then tiny dots... but it was a quick google search is there a specific sp. you were thinking of? Either way... gonna dump a few pieces of oatmeal in the box tonight and see if they are on it in the am.. if they are, then I think we have mites...

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

unless of course you see them crawling

I've never seen them move, although if you float some on water you can just see their very short legs waving.

cheers Darrel

 

[JasonC]

Saw one twitch last night.... its mites... argh...

 

[gerald]

Sorry, wrong terminology. I was referring to the little round fungal fruiting bodies (not hyphae) that I see on moldy bread.
But they don't twitch .... its mites ... argh

 

[Chandler Rogers]

I have deduced that the mites are entering the culture through the food source, as long as the food source is infected you will never be rid of them. I have started dusting the cat food with Diatomaceous earth and also the infected culture. I still see the mites, but the numbers are way down.