What's in my Green Banana bin?

[reddog]

Went to change fruit and found lots of small white slow moving things on the old fruit. Are these newly hatched babies or some sort of mite? I started the colony about 3 weeks ago, so I don't really know what to look for. Thanks.

 

[Beman]

Well it does not look like a green banana lol. @jamest0o0 master of all bug knowledge what is this?

 

[jamest0o0]

Looks like some type of detrivore mite. Ive seen them before, don't know the exact species, but they're harmless, usually show up in substrate at some point. Usually bloom when food is left for a long time. I only worry with sensitive species that don't like them crawling around like snails which can get stressed by their presence.

 

[reddog]

Alright thanks. So I guess I should go ahead and toss these scraps! I'm guessing newly hatched green bananas looks much more roach-like and move quickly?

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup they're tiny and fast

 

[reddog]

Should I add a clean up crew to this colony? Would lesser mealworm beetles and dermestid beetles do ok with such high humidity?

 

[jamest0o0]

Actually they do too good! Dont use them in moist substrate unless you want swarms of them stressing out roaches and even attacking molted roaches.

 

[reddog]

Interesting, I had read that neither of them ever mess with roaches. What would you suggest for a cleanup crew in a green banana colony?

 

[jamest0o0]

I use springtails, they're perfect cleaners for them.

The beetles in swarms will still rarely actually attack roaches, but their numbers crawling everywhere will stress the roaches out and one rare occasions if food is not available they will attack roaches.

 

[reddog]

I keep my green banana colony at ~80-95* and ~80-100% RH. Will temperate springtails do OK in that heat? I already have a culture of them.

 

[jamest0o0]

Add a few and see how well they do, they should thrive!

 

[reddog]

Will do. Would any isopods do well in this setup too?

 

[jamest0o0]

They would, but I hesitate to use them due to their ability to stress roaches out. That said GBR can climb so it probably wouldn't be much of an issue, and I'm sure there's species of isos that would be less stressful, but I haven't bothered since the springtails do just fine.

 

[reddog]

Maybe I'll try some giant canyons and then I could feed off adults if I ever feel like I'm getting too many of them.

 

[jamest0o0]

A good idea could be making a ledge higher up and hang some cork on it in the bin suspended above the substrate. Or really anything, guess it doesn't have to be cork... this way the roaches could hang out up there and the isos could clean below.

 

[reddog]

Good idea. What about multiple layers of cork bark on the ground? I currently only have one layer.

 

[jamest0o0]

Well the isopods will crawl through it all, but that can't hurt either. I'm just talking so the roaches have a zone to themselves away from the isopods.

 

[cyberlocc]

You can do the Tropical Dwarf Isopods, they are like the size of Fruit Flys. They are extremely tiny.

When I first saw them I was like where are they lol. You have look hard.

 

[snitz427]

I have springtails and dwarf whites in my green banana bins. I've only had them a month or two so I can't really speak to how they might be affecting the roaches, but they're very tiny and the goal, for me, is to help manage any food residue and dead roaches. So far, so good. I thought I killed off my green bananas, but I think I just had a few adults die due to age or shipping stress. I am seeing more numbers lately, so hopefully in a few more months I'll have large amounts to feed!

 

[reddog]

I had a small chunk of banana in the bin for just over 24 hours and it already had these mites on it again. Should I be worried about them getting out of control or will their population cycle based on food supply without affecting the GBs?