Is it RSM?

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Mawa
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Is it RSM?

Post by Mawa »

Last year my mesembs were invaded by white RSM. The pests spontaneously disappeared with the summer. Now they are back, but in addition there are also similar pests, about twice-three times larger, much quicker, and brown in color. They crawl side by side. Is it a different stage of RSM life cycle, or something else?
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AnTTun
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by AnTTun »

I have no clue, but I wouldn't wait with insecticide.
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georged
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by georged »

From your photo it looks more like a beetle than a mite and could be there to feed on the mites but others may be able to give you a more definative answer.
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Diane
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by Diane »

It is usually thought that if they are quick, they are the good guys! Your photo looks like a mite of some kind (not RSM) and they could possibly be predators.
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majcka
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by majcka »

Your pic is a little "shy" but if I see that right it should be a ladybug (is that even a right expresion) in latin it would be something from Coccinellidae family.

Does it look that way:
Pikapoke - 1.jpg
If so, you want more of them. Thaey are predators. Eat lots of bad bugs. :lol:
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Mawa
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by Mawa »

My first thought was it was predatory mites. However, the population of white mites is on the rise (!), not decline. Also, I have put white mites right in front of these brown bugs hoping they would attack them. Alas, brown bugs had no interest in white mites whatsoever. I tried counting legs to figure out if they are mites or not, but it proved impossible.
I do not think they are ladybugs. My brown bugs may seem large on the photos, but in reality they are tiny, about 1/3mm. They are photographed on white paper, and you can see paper fibers.
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iann
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by iann »

They not red spider mites.

If they're what I think then they're a type of mite that feeds on algae and fungi. They don't appear to be harmful either to plants or to other mites. They would tend to suggest a soil on the moist side.
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Mawa
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by Mawa »

Thank you Ian! They did appear in the "wet" corner, where I keep Meyerophytum, Mitrophyllum, and Dicrocaulon plants, and Gibbaeum seedlings.
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by anttisepp »

Mawa wrote:<...> Now they are back, but in addition there are also similar pests, about twice-three times larger, much quicker, and brown in color. They crawl side by side. Is it a different stage of RSM life cycle, or something else?
Looks like harmless soil mite.
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/soil_mite.htm
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Eric Williams
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Re: Is it RSM?

Post by Eric Williams »

You cannot see RSM without the use of a 8X magnifying glass,( unless you have superb eyesight). So I do not think these are mites at all. Cheers
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