Unwanted Pests
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Tyrophagus mites.
Mites are a consistent problem and something to do all you can to avoid them. Early on I gave some watermelon rind to the pinheads. They loved it to the point where I did not dispose of it when it start to become soft. I found out the hard way this was a perfect food for my first explosion of mites. They were everywhere on the cage. I took some to two friends in the entomology department at The Ohio State University and they independently identified them as Tyrophagus Mites. One of them was the head of the insectarium and had seen them before in his cultures. He said they are omnipresent, that is, just about everywhere. They can travel by a mere breeze. They are also known as Storage Mites and Mold Mites. They can come in your food if the package is not heat sealed. Their numbers are generally very low and they literally are the size of a speck of dust. They usually go unnoticed unless there is a population explosion, at which time the mass resembles sawdust from wood sanding. Unless there as an allergic reaction to dust and mites, they do not appear to be a detrimental problem, just a nuisance pest, I feel. I suspect the pinheads may eat them, but have never witnessed it. They mainly appear after most of the crickets have hatched. For a video of the mites see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvOw5LqeooY. They were recorded on the rim of a mushroom container. This is why I prefer black containers.
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The mites eat organic matter. Many vegetables, fruits, frass, discarded egg cases from the crickets, grains, pet food, etc. They seem to grow best in warm and humid environments.
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A study I read from England on the internet compared 100 bags of food that were heat sealed and 100 that were not heat sealed. Every one of the non-heat sealed bags had mites while none of the sealed bags had them. So do not take chances.
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To keep the mite numbers in check, here are some action I take:
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Remove any fresh fruits or vegetables after 3 days. Potatoes are the exception. Apparently mites do not like them.
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Sterilize any food or egg laying medium that is not already sterile. To sterilize, heat the food or medium to 180° f and hold for 30 minutes. Keep in a confined area (oven) until cool and seal in a ziplock bag until ready to use. Simply freezing at 0° may not kill the eggs.
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After selecting immature crickets for breeding, give them a dusting of Sublimed Sulfur (aka Flowers of Sulfur). The procedure is explained in the Breeder Selection Section.
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Keep an eye on the ELBs, especially after 20 days in the incubator (Cage #2). This is a perfect growing environment and the discarded cricket egg shells are a good food. Look at the rim of the ELB for specks that are moving. While they move slowly, it is discernable. See Video link above. Once the mites have been seen, remove the ELB from the others to avoid contamination and isolate it or put it directly into the freezer. Keep an even closer eye on the other ELBs and if another starts showing mites take corrective action. Do not add any new ELBs to this cage. Start a new Cage #2 when the next ELB is ready. More than likely there were many mites that were not seen and they will contaminate other ELBs in that cage. Move the contaminated cage to an isolated area and thoroughly clean the area where the old cage was before installing the new cage. You may have to hatching cages until the ELBs are exhausted. Ideally start the new cage from a new batch of breeders. Possibly the mites came from the breeders.
Soil Gnats (Fungus Gnat)
Soil gnats are pesky little flies. They typically are introduced from a potted plant in the house. I believe the gnat maggots simply cohabitate with the pinheads, but take no chances. They will lay eggs in the ELBs or in the water dish that has become putrefied from cricket frass deposited on the water dish. The maggots will survive submerged, or in the moist medium of an ELB. The maggots are just a little larger than a cricket egg and are easily confused, only they wriggle.
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Prevention is the best way to treat them. The ELBs are always under a mosquito netting cover. Sometimes the flies manage to get in and will lay a batch of eggs. Controlling the adults is easy with a little vigilance and a vacuum cleaner. The adults will run up the sides of the Sterilite box. Crickets cannot do this. Suck them up when they are seen, being careful not to suck up pinheads if you get too close to the bottom. I find twice a day for 3-4 days usually takes care of them. I suspect they must be a few days old before they can lay eggs, so this breaks up their cycle.
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I saw on the internet another way to capture fungus gnats is to take a piece of yellow or orange paper and smear it with a coating of petroleum jelly. Set the card on a flat surface and the gnats are drawn to the yellow and will stick in the jelly. So far I have not needed to try this, but this day will come.