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#1548521
Mama42
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Do my supers have mites? 
i noticed a while back, this "dust" all over the inside of the lid of my super worm container. at first, i thought nothing of it since they werent moving. but yesterday, i noticed they were starting to move. well, i started going through the substrate and saw that it was infested with "whatever" they are. im thinking mites. i called the pet store where i got the worms and they said that mites wont live on super worms. is that true? also, they said it was probably white flies. but, theyre not flying!! theyre crawling. she also said they would be black, not white.
here is a pic i found on the internet. its not my pic, but close to what i found. notice the powdery stuff around the sides and top...
any clues or if anyone could shed some light on my dilema, it would be so appreciated. thanks. M-
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12/16/07 06:14pm
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#1567646
Tarnick D
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Message To: Mama42 In reference to Message Id: 1548521
Do my supers have mites?
I just got on line to find out about the same thing. I just bought 200 mealworms friday and today these things that look like white bugs so small they aren’t really visible almost other than looking like dust but when you touch it you can feel them crawl. They were on the outside of the containter so they can crawl out the holes on the mealworm ventilation holes on the tupperware. Does that sound familiar?
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01/04/08 01:36am
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#1588705
ThePetCastle
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Message To: Tarnick D In reference to Message Id: 1567646
Do my supers have mites?
What you have are grain mites. The good news is now you know what they are so you can get rid of them, the bad news is, if you are breeding the mealworms, you need to start over. Grain mites are not impossible to kill, u they are hard to kill and anything that will kill them will also kill your mealies. When you start over with the new breeding batch, don’t use whole grains such as oatmeal, etc, use wheat middlings. Most online insect retailers will have it, it is usually called mealworm bedding, or some such thing. It is the left over stuff after wheat is processed. Another option is to use oatmeal, but throw it in the microwave first. If your interested, here is the link where I got all this info (I have the same problem with my breeding colony, that is why I’m here).
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/worm.htm#mites
Hope this helps.
Richard
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01/21/08 07:20pm
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#1602825
Mama42
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Message To: ThePetCastle In reference to Message Id: 1588705
Do my supers have mites?
oh wow! i forgot about this post lol....
yes! that is the same thing i have. if you look real close, they move. but just to lok at them youd think they were just dust! whats so gross is they multiply fast! i also learned since posting this is if you have any dead worms, they breed faster!!!
i was told they wil not hurt the worms...
i just threw them out and started over. what a waste!! 
im not breeding,but its good to know about the microwave..
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01/31/08 09:47am
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