What are these???

[jamest0o0]

I love going the predatory pest route (mantids, parasitic wasps, lacewings (cham food!), etc)... but its a slow battle that way. I find they help control numbers but never really irradicate them. I prefer to do the cleaning cycle at least 2x, if not 3x... then spot treat after that or throw in lacewing eggs for any stragglers.

Agreed, although hungry lady bugs completely cleared a monstrous aphid infestation on a hibiscusm

 

[jamest0o0]

yup. ants actually farm aphids and scale. they brng the pests to different plants in order to harvest the honey dew behind them.

I remember reading about that! Crazy things

 

[snitz427]

Agreed, although hungry lady bugs completely cleared a monstrous aphid infestation on a hibiscusm

lady bugs do a great job, but they aren't great for the cham factor as they have varying levels of toxicity. They also bite an dtend to flock to the lights and windows. If you have a little screen butterfly cage, you can def put the plant in there with them, and then remove it / hose it off to get rid of the lady bugs before putting it back.

 

[snitz427]

Google says they are white flies. So now I have to ask if anyone has had these and what is the risk of them spreading to all of my other enclosures? How do I safely get rid of them? Keep in mind, 3/4 of my enclosures are bioactive, including Stella’s.

If they are whitefly - then unfortunately yes. They are a pita because they are so tiny, they can squeeze through the screen. Those eggs don't look like (only) white fly, though... and the other pic with their wings doesn't look quite right, either. white fly look like moths that are the size of soil gnats.

 

[MissSkittles]

If they are whitefly - then unfortunately yes. They are a pita because they are so tiny, they can squeeze through the screen. Those eggs don't look like (only) white fly, though... and the other pic with their wings doesn't look quite right, either. white fly look like moths that are the size of soil gnats.

Crap! Crap! Crappy crap! I’ve been battling soil gnats for a while. Two Katchy’s in the bedroom and 2 sundew in the kitchen/dining room (where I have my extra plants) have only been keeping the numbers of them down. Except for my feeders which serve a purpose, I hate bugs!

 

[jamest0o0]

lady bugs do a great job, but they aren't great for the cham factor as they have varying levels of toxicity. They also bite an dtend to flock to the lights and windows. If you have a little screen butterfly cage, you can def put the plant in there with them, and then remove it / hose it off to get rid of the lady bugs before putting it back.

I throw mosquito net around the plants I want treated and unleash the swarm. Then just leave it there for a week or so.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ve got all of the plants, branches and pots all outside. Just need to remove the soil and then will toss the enclosure outside too. All is going to get a thorough cleaning, but think I’ll leave it all outside. Just need the dragon ledges from the old enclosure and can start fresh. Will worry about foam backgrounds and bioactive later when I know these flies are eradicated. Going to be a pain to dig thru the dirt and try to rescue some isopods. So much to do today and on no sleep! I worked last night. Thank goodness for coffee and cola!

 

[Beman]

I’ve got all of the plants, branches and pots all outside. Just need to remove the soil and then will toss the enclosure outside too. All is going to get a thorough cleaning, but think I’ll leave it all outside. Just need the dragon ledges from the old enclosure and can start fresh. Will worry about foam backgrounds and bioactive later when I know these flies are eradicated. Going to be a pain to dig thru the dirt and try to rescue some isopods. So much to do today and on no sleep! I worked last night. Thank goodness for coffee and cola!

Wish I lived closer I would come help. You can do it!!!!!!

 

[MissSkittles]

Wish I lived closer I would come help. You can do it!!!!!!

Aww...thanks Becca!
Am down to the bottom drainage layer now...where all of the isopods are hiding. Have found a few powder oranges, a ton of giant canyon and 2 teenage roaches. Also found the remnant of a plant that looks like it was eaten almost down to it’s roots. I thought I had planted more on the bottom. All of Stella’s secrets are exposed now.

 

[Multivitamins]

If you want a more natural way of killing them try green lace wings. I bought some and put them in the cages and it helped

I am hoping to get ooths of mantids to use as both feeders and pest control this season. They are amazing creatures I enjoy mantids and love watching them hunt. They make decent pets too just short lived

 

[snitz427]

I am hoping to get ooths of mantids to use as both feeders and pest control this season. They are amazing creatures I enjoy mantids and love watching them hunt. They make decent pets too just short lived

I let them hatch right in the enclosures. tasty snacks and they do clean up on things like whitefly. Lacewing larva works pretty well, too, but you need to kill off multiple lifecyclees / new hatches.

 

[MissSkittles]

I let them hatch right in the enclosures. tasty snacks and they do clean up on things like whitefly. Lacewing larva works pretty well, too, but you need to kill off multiple lifecyclees / new hatches.

Really? So I could put a mantis ooth in each enclosure and they’d take care of any relocated white flies (before becoming snacks)?
These blasted little flies made everything sticky! Her shooting gallery and even the tiny wires I have attached her fake plants to on the outside of the door are all sticky! I’d hate to have to clean out Grumpy and Hammlet’s enclosures too if they get infested. Thankfully Stella‘s enclosure is on the far end next to Jack and his isn’t bioactive. I can just take his plants out and clean them.

 

[snitz427]

Really? So I could put a mantis ooth in each enclosure and they’d take care of any relocated white flies (before becoming snacks)?
These blasted little flies made everything sticky! Her shooting gallery and even the tiny wires I have attached her fake plants to on the outside of the door are all sticky! I’d hate to have to clean out Grumpy and Hammlet’s enclosures too if they get infested. Thankfully Stella‘s enclosure is on the far end next to Jack and his isn’t bioactive. I can just take his plants out and clean them.

yep, but I would clean everything first with soap water to dislodge as many bugs and eggs as you can. The mantis ooths will take 3-4 weeks to hatch - so if you can do 1 or 2 treatments, they can help with any stragglers. If they escape my cage when I open the door - they are free to live out their days oh my house plants, pulling clean up duty!

But only the newly hatched mantids will eat them. Once I get to a certain size they’re gonna look for slightly bigger pray but they’ll also help with your soil gnats

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Could be whitefly in there, too... they are easy to tell because if you just blow on the leaves you'll see tons of tiny little white spots fly off.

Wouldn't that risk spreading them to other plants/enclosures?
We stopped putting houseplants outside—even for a few hours—because they would always come back in with some kind of pests on them.

Now pests are rare, and usually come in on new plants.

 

[snitz427]

Wouldn't that risk spreading them to other plants/enclosures?
We stopped putting houseplants outside—even for a few hours—because they would always come back in with some kind of pests on them.

Now pests are rare, and usually come in on new plants.

I meant blow in the leaves in the enclosure. If they’re in there they’re on every plant, trust me.

Plant pest outside are unavoidable. They’re transferred by birds, bees, the wind, etc. Some green houses will make their employees change clothes before entering the premises so that they don’t bring in new contaminants.

They are a pain in the butt but they’re also a natural occurrence and part of the plant world. If you haven’t had to deal with pests yet, you’re lucky, but your days are numbered if you ever add more. So it’s best to have a good game plan to combat them and some preventative precautions To keep them from coming back.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I meant blow in the leaves in the enclosure. If they’re in there they’re on every plant, trust me.

Plant pest outside are unavoidable. They’re transferred by birds, bees, the wind, etc. Some green houses will make their employees change clothes before entering the premises so that they don’t bring in new contaminants.

They are a pain in the butt but they’re also a natural occurrence and part of the plant world. If you haven’t had to deal with pests yet, you’re lucky, but your days are numbered if you ever add more. So it’s best to have a good game plan to combat them and some preventative precautions To keep them from coming back.

I said...

Wouldn't that risk spreading them to other plants/enclosures?
We stopped putting houseplants outside—even for a few hours—because they would always come back in with some kind of pests on them.

Now pests are rare, and usually come in on new plants.

Not our first rodeo. We've dealt with more than we can count. Not taking them outside anymore is a preventative precaution, along with isolating new additions (usually twice a year—at the beginning and end of the season) & cleaning when necessary. SOP.

 

[snitz427]

I said...

Not our first rodeo. We've dealt with more than we can count. Not taking them outside anymore is a preventative precaution, along with isolating new additions (usually twice a year—at the beginning and end of the season) & cleaning when necessary. SOP.

Your options are have them spread to other plants in your house, or outside your house. If it’s whitefly they need to be hosed off outdoors or they’re just going to scatter indoors. If you’re only taking it outside to clean the plant and bringing it back in, I seriously doubt you’re going to risk picking up new pests. I do this semi-regularly with about 400 plants. New pests typically come from new plants that I didn’t properly clean in quarantine, because I was too antsy or lazy.

 

[Multivitamins]

I'm sorry I don't always word things in a way that they will read well.

Really? So I could put a mantis ooth in each enclosure and they’d take care of any relocated white flies (before becoming snacks)?
These blasted little flies made everything sticky! Her shooting gallery and even the tiny wires I have attached her fake plants to on the outside of the door are all sticky! I’d hate to have to clean out Grumpy and Hammlet’s enclosures too if they get infested. Thankfully Stella‘s enclosure is on the far end next to Jack and his isn’t bioactive. I can just take his plants out and clean them.

I would not use this as a main treatment alone I definitely would follow the quarantine and clean method. But mantids will eat each other so there is never a risk of being over run however you may have them around for quite a while idk how quick 200 mantids would escape enclosure / cannibalize each other. an ooth can pour mantids out like 50+ 100+ even so keep that in mind.

I think mantids are cool enough that you can use this method then pick one that you like keep it and feed it some left over cham feeders. the bsfl that I didn't feed and had gone to flys were great for it.

For the pest control aspect I'd suggest removing your Chameleon if possible use extra set up or a free range or just to hatch them with the removed plants you want to treat in their own area laundry hamper or a extra tank this is so your cham doest get ambushed in the night by the dozens and dozens of baby mantids.

My perspective on things like this sucks I only have one Chameleon and he's so easy going in his free range if I need to tend to enclosure things. Also I'm spoiled with weather never ending summer over here so I can muscle my old zoo med outside if needed

Best of luck

 

[MissSkittles]

I'm sorry I don't always word things in a way that they will read well.


I would not use this as a main treatment alone I definitely would follow the quarantine and clean method. But mantids will eat each other so there is never a risk of being over run however you may have them around for quite a while idk how quick 200 mantids would escape enclosure / cannibalize each other. an ooth can pour mantids out like 50+ 100+ even so keep that in mind.

I think mantids are cool enough that you can use this method then pick one that you like keep it and feed it some left over cham feeders. the bsfl that I didn't feed and had gone to flys were great for it.

For the pest control aspect I'd suggest removing your Chameleon if possible use extra set up or a free range or just to hatch them with the removed plants you want to treat in their own area laundry hamper or a extra tank this is so your cham doest get ambushed in the night by the dozens and dozens of baby mantids.

My perspective on things like this sucks I only have one Chameleon and he's so easy going in his free range if I need to tend to enclosure things. Also I'm spoiled with weather never ending summer over here so I can muscle my old zoo med outside if needed

Best of luck

Thanks! I’m about halfway thru setting up a new enclosure for Stella and everything from her old enclosure, including the enclosure itself is sitting outside waiting for it’s deep cleaning tomorrow. I’ll have to start cleaning all of the plants in my other chams enclosures...tomorrow. I’m just about out of steam today...running on caffeine fumes. I’ve never had mantids so maybe will start with just one ooth and hatch it in a container to see how many there are. Might get some lacewings too just for kicks.

 

[snitz427]

I hatch them in all of my enclosures, all the time. You’ll get a ton of them on the day that they hatch. My girls make quick work of them and there are usually none left by the end of the day. The boys tend to let them stick around a little bit longer. But after the second day or so the mantids have pretty much calm down and found a good spot, or they start eating each other. Either way they start thinning out after 2 to 3 days, even if the Chamaeleon doesn’t eat them. But like I said, my girls will knock them out almost as quickly as they can emerge from the ooth.

This is clarice’s fat and happy face (notice she is waiting next to the ooth). And Lucy going to town on hatch day.