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Biological Controls #2 - Rove Beetles; Generalist Predators

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Rove Beetles; We moved these in from outdoors where they remained and flourished in natural living soil. They were quite effective in keeping most pests (thrips, gnats, mites) controlled. They seemed to prefer the bad bugs over lovely ones like springtails

http://greenmethods.com/biocontrols/atheta

http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/natural_enemies/predators/rove_beetles.html

http://toxipedia.org/display/ipmopedia/Rove+Beetle

picture.php


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Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
We brought them in on organic matter. Look in rotting debris, compost heaps. There are many species/genera, geographically oriented/adapted.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
motherfucker!


I have been finding these in oyster mushroom gills, totally unaware I could have taken them home.

dammit!
 

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Worked for us...after struggling through years of all the commercial BS, like Pyrethrum sprays which cause a population rebound especially in two spotted mites.
 
Sorry for the blurry pic, this little sucker was running fast. When I got nearby it raised it's rear up like a scorpion. The size of it was about a 1/2 inch long. Does it look like a Rove Beetle? The color pattern is different from the one you have pictured but similar shape.
 

bigshrimp

Active member
Veteran
Yep the butt gives it way every time. Very pretty rover beetle you have btw, mine seem smaller and all black
 

Greenheart

Active member
Veteran
Cute little fellow. Could probably slip them in without the wife even knowing.

:dunno: "I don't know what it is dear...It doesn't seem to be harming anything..."
 
I put five of these buggers in my soil, five of them in a 100 gal square "pot" sine I have lots of fungus gnats in there. Now I got worried the European nightcrawlers in the soil will be eaten, or their eggs. Will the rove beetles mess with them?
 
M

metsäkana

i also got some in my soil by accident they seem to be really tought.. i might like these more than hypoaspis miles :D (they even spray me in face if i get too close :DD)


Rove Beetles
are a soil-dwelling general predator that feeds on the larvae of fungus gnats, shore fly, moth fly and pupae of thrips and springtails. There is evidence that Rove Beetles will also provide some control for root aphids.
Benefits of Rove Beetles:

  • Effective between 55°-90° F. Provide protection for more pests at lower temperatures than S. scimitus.
  • Prefer humidity between 50-80%. Ideal for greenhouses and controlled environments.
  • Known for aggressive feeding and reproduction rates. Both larvae and adults are predatory.
  • Highly mobile in the soil and adults can fly from plant to plant.
Winged adults have high dispersal and colonization rates allowing them to quickly establish populations in various growing media. Once established, this behavior allows Rove Beetle populations to combat fluctuating pest infestations without reintroduction. Adults are a brown-black color, 3 - 4 mm long, winged beetles. Larvae are thin, pale yellow and darken in the later larval stages. Rove Beetles live around 21 days at 70°.
1101330_rove_beetle_600x600.jpg


they also eat (Tarsonemidae) family mites what i had in my soil ''eating composting crap in groups'' they look like slow white pearls.. here is pic of them.. i tought they are bulb mite but im not 100% sure.. IMG_3280.jpg i cant find them anymore


(okey the white compost decaying matter mite is back xd with numbers but i dont know what it do i dont see it on plants) and i cant win the fungus gnat fully with these with no traps
rove_beetle_adult_plain.jpg
 
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