Hey guys,
I've recently noticed a lot of tiny white insects swarming in the soil and moss that I have in my vivarium. I have noticed that they seem to swarm around my WTF's feces. I have been trying to do some research and I just can't seem to figure out whether they are mites or springtails? Does anyone have any advice or tips to look for that would help me make the distinction?
Springtails move much more quickly than mites- and they swarm around feces.
Sounds like you have springtails.
I had mites in a box of isopods I bought for a bioactive set up, luckily I noticed them before I put them in. I had to go through the dirt and pick out all the isopds and there were tons of baby isopods, took ages.
If I remember correctly the mites were more of a rounder shape and had little legs that were more to the front of the body. They looked a bit like the shape of a tick but VERY tiny where as the springtails are a longer shape. The sprintails move quickly, and will a lot of the time jump away if you poke at the earth near them but the mites will stay there. The mites move very slowly.
Springtails will crowd over frog poop, they love it, dirty little critters, LOL.
Hope this helps a bit.
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