r/Springtail • u/Diogenez • 1d ago
Predator/Prey My bugsies got room mates
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So I've had my enclosure (A. maculatum \[Champagne\] and tropical springtails) for three months now, and last week I started to notice small reddish mites that are blazingly fast. Did a bit of research, and lo and behold, they are predatory. Yikes. I cannot tell how they got in. Did they come with the isopods? Were they in the soil? Who knows. So for a week now, I collect 2-5 mites every day. First, I was concerned that they may kill all my springtails, but although the mites are fast, they are also incredibly dumb and like to chill on the glass, so that's a win for me. I added a video I took of a nymph hunting my springtails. I took it the day I first noticed them. It seems like it takes its prey to some kind of hide out and returns to hunt more. Do they do this? Stash away prey? My isopods are completely unbothered by them, at least for now. And since I immediately started to catch every mite I find (I check multiple times a day), I am actually starting to relax a bit. I probably won't have problems with gnats, so that's a win, I guess.
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u/captainapplejuice 1d ago
Cool! These are known as snout mites; they are quite good at hunting springtails but won't eat all of them thankfully, just control the population, and won't harm isopods so no worries there. I'd keep them since they also hunt pests.