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Orange bugs in dirt, IPM?
- Thread starter gram101
- Start date
Sounds like composting mites.
Ive got some orange mites in my soil that are rather fast moving..
I got some recent pics of some Ill try and get em posted...
in the meantime have a look at this site, it may help ID what you got going on
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~maminor/mites.html
I got some recent pics of some Ill try and get em posted...
in the meantime have a look at this site, it may help ID what you got going on
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~maminor/mites.html
Stayfoolish
Member
How bad are the bugs really? My Compost pit and worm bin definitely have a huge variety of creepy crawlies. I haven't used any indoor yet because I was semi worried they were going to infest my Dirt. Then I was thinking I may just be avoiding creating a real ecosystem. Not really sure if there is a line between organic and wtf my dirts alive.
Well it depends exactly what they are of course, can you take any pics under a USB scope or something similar? I've got a population of H. Miles that goes from sparse to "holy fucking shit that's a lot of soil mites" - which are predators that also feed on decaying organic matter. In other words, they're beneficial... I'm going to take a wild guess as to that's what you are seeing in your soil 
DrBrownThumb
New member
Definitely sound like beneficial soil mites, but a cheap microscope is the only way to know for sure. The ones I had were these: http://www.plexuseco.com/EPOW/EPOW-Archive/archive_2004/EPOW-040913.htm
Here is a video I shot of some soil mites I had a while ago..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMNdnQZGoqo
A rather fuzzy microscope shot of the same mite
And more recently a new type of mite that is in my worm composting bin..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMNdnQZGoqo
A rather fuzzy microscope shot of the same mite
And more recently a new type of mite that is in my worm composting bin..
Usually orange mites are good.
Hypoaspis miles is your first one. Completely beneficial. It eats springtails, gnat larvae, thrips larvae. They like humid soil and rich in life. The second one is a composter mite, I noticed they like bokashi stuff and really wet decomposing matter. They move slow, they're a prey for hypoaspis too.
Hope this helps.
Dr.P
Hypoaspis miles is your first one. Completely beneficial. It eats springtails, gnat larvae, thrips larvae. They like humid soil and rich in life. The second one is a composter mite, I noticed they like bokashi stuff and really wet decomposing matter. They move slow, they're a prey for hypoaspis too.
Hope this helps.
Dr.P
well the second mite is about twice the size of H. Miles and is without a doubt faster. If H. Miles preys on that armored orange beast it must be a chuck norris ninja cross of H.miles...
