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Tue, Mar 29, 11 at 23:58
| I have a vermicompost bin that's about 3 weeks old. About a week ago I added some wet cardboard on top of it. When I came back I found these very tiny insects crawling around the sides of the bin. They are brown, with two long antennas, and move rather fast. They aren't concentrated in any area, I've only found them looking around and always on the move. I've done some research and though they might be Hypoaspis Miles mites. I read that they are very good predatory bugs that feast on fungus gnats. I only ever see a few fungus gnats in and around the compost. If they are not Hypoaspis Miles mites, are they bugs that are pests and that I should be afraid of?
Here are the links of two pictures I took of the bugs. (they are uploaded onto flickr) http://flic.kr/p/9uez7F http://flic.kr/p/9uez78 Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Your critters appear to have 6 legs, rather than 8. Mites have 8 legs. Correct me if I am not being a good observer. Truthfully, these look more like the teensy, tiny nymphs of cockroaches than they do anything else I can think of right now. |
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- Posted by berryman135678 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 30, 11 at 14:18
| The cardboard is a dead give away for roaches. Long ago in a city far away, my wife and i had an infestation of roaches. They were coming through a drain opening we didn't know about. After exhaustive research and attacks on the roaches, we found that keeping cardboard boxes because the wafering layers and that cardboard when damp, makes an excellent home for the young ins. So once we got rid of the cardboard and covered the drain, problem solved. |
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| They do have 6 legs. I've checked all the cardboard pieces and I don't see any bugs or eggs on them. Most of the cardboard has separated into pieces so I've checked them all over. I will remove the cardboard pieces to see if anything happens though. Hopefully I won't be finding cockroaches in my compost soon. |
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| I doubt they're roaches. But since they live at your place, take a very close look: Roaches have crosswise lines (abdominal segments) as in the image at http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/cockroach2.htm Mite nymphs have 6 legs while adults have 8. Looking at them from the top, their bodies appear to be one piece; both lack crosswise markings. |
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| Yeah, from the photo they seem to be just round bodies with no cross markings. They're about 1mm or smaller so I can't see it with my own eyes. They aren't growing either. Just staying that small size for the past couple days. |
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