Mite problem

[u/henri467467]

Currently, I’m keeping Carebara Diversa. I might be to blame for this mite issue because I went abroad and left the colony for my dad to look after, but I’m not sure if it was me or him. I spotted some grain mites along with springtails when I got back, and removed the rubbish that was left to fix that issue. But I noticed some bumps on the ants, dark and tiny bumps smaller than the minors. They have covered one worker as you can see in the photo, but most workers don’t seem to have any or have only a few. Are they phoretic or parasitic mites? Is there anything worth doing at this point or should I just start fresh? It will be sad if I have to let them go but definitely a lesson learnt for next time.

I’ve come to the realisation that this is normal. These parasitic mites almost certainly came with the colony, most likely from Asia (my other colonies receive the same treatment but don’t have a mite problem). I don’t want to speak too soon, but my colony should be fine. I have a bioactive setup to counter the mites naturally, which is exactly what happens in the wild. I realise that most cases of mite outbreaks killing colonies are because the colonies are hosted in sterile, plain setups. These parasitic mites have no predators to counter them in sterile setups, hence why they kill the colonies. If my analysis is correct, my colony will live. I hope others in this situation can learn from this. I will keep this updated.

Queens aren’t affected, brood is fine, only a few workers are affected. This supports the bio active setup is doing its job.

[u/henri467467]

Here’s the other mite that walked around and latched onto an ant, it unlatched itself when I picked up the ant so maybe it’s not as harmful.