Lmst

Been a long time since I posted anything for #MiteMonday, but I was going through my camera and found this one I don't think I've shared before! Just a good old _Allothrombium_ red velvet mite.

#Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Trombidiidae

A soft, wrinkled bright red mite with a somewhat peanut-shaped body and robust legs, creeping down a shallow valley of lichen-spattered tree bark.

Anyway, #InternationalRockFlippingDay finds: a vine weevil (*Otiorhynchus* of some kind), and a bryobiine spider mite, see e.g. *Petrobia*.

#bugstodon #DailyMitePic #arachnids #mites #SpiderMites #insects #beetles #weevils #Coleoptera #Curculionidae #Entiminae #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae

On the underside of a broken glob of concrete and small rocks, a black broad-nosed weevil with irregular little light brown dots on its elytra (the wing shields covering the top of its abdomen).

A tiny dark red mite with very long thin legs and sparse long thin hairs sticking up from its body (think Hellraiser's Pinhead), on the gritty underside of a brick. Look, we don't have very fancy landscaping materials.

I am also very excited because in the past few days at this one spot in a park I've found mites that I *think* are family Erythracaridae, in the same superfamily as whirligig mites. This is exciting because I've never seen them before and they are not often observed in this region. Waiting for BugGuide to classify the photos.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Erythracaridae?

A small red-orange mite on blackened pine bark. It has an oblong body and long, very spiky legs.

Another of the very spiky mites, this one with dark red markings on a lichen-dotted rock.

In other news, we have reached Peak Anystid, that short but precious time when it seems like every leaf has a plump little whirligig mite running around on it. They are avid predators and eating is practically the only time they stay still. Here are several from the garden.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

An orange-red whirligig mite on the tip of a pointy cup plant bud thingy, feeding on some blobby grey thing about its own size.

A whirligig mite on the underside of a milkweed leaf, feeding on some kind of plant/seed bug nymph. It is turning yellowish-green from the colour of the bug.

A whirligig mite eating some kind of pale true bug whose long translucent wings have borders of attractive black stripes.

A whirligig mite on a leaf eating a yellow thrips.

Happy #ThripsThursday! To everyone except this thrips on a fallen peony petal who was promptly eaten by a whirligig mite. I 🧡 my whirligig mites.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #bugstodon #insects #thrips #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae #Thysanoptera

A thrips, a tiny thin yellow insect with a long pointy abdomen, on the delicately pink-streaked surface of a white petal.

A large squat orange-red mite has caught the thrips and is feeding on it. Blurry greenery is in the background.

Close-up of mite and thrips. Hilariously, despite the mite being many, many times larger than the thrips, their eyes are about the same size.

For #MiteMonday: mites eating things.

1. Long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae, probably _Balaustium_) eating a midge
2. A whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating a globular springtail
3. A snout mite (family Bdellidae) eating a barklouse

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Erythraeidae #Anystidae #Bdellidae

A dead midge on a rock, with several fuzzy, oblong red mites clinging to it.

An orange mite with a star- or asterisk-like arrangement of spiky legs feeding on a small round black springtail. It is on a rough black surface and there is not enough light, so the mite is rather washed out.

On a pine tree, a red-orange mite sticks its pointy, weevil-like snout into the face of a yellowish barklouse.

Belated #MiteMonday: it's the time of year I start carrying a little water dropper bottle for the whirligig mites. I've found it's a reliable way to get them to stay still for photos. 💧

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

A tiny, squarish orange mite drinks from a drop of water that has sunk into the wooden picnic table it's on.

Little red mites of spring!

- A larval sidewalk mite (_Balaustium_) eating pollen
- A young whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating clover mite eggs (the little reddish balls)
- Sumo mites (_Allothrombium_) wrestling
- and lastly, a clover mite (_Bryobia_), which isn't really that red when full grown but which all of the other mites are frequently misidentified as. They won't be out much longer, they go dormant in the hot months.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Erythraeidae #Anystidae #Trombidiidae #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae

A tiny six-legged (and therefore larval) red mite with a vaguely oval body feeding on an infinitesimally small speck of yellow pollen on rock.

A tiny squarish bright red mite sinking its mouthparts into a tiny dark red ball, one of many in the crevices of tree bark.

Two large, wrinkly, velvety red mites chasing each other on a shady tree root.

A slightly flat, finely wrinkled dark blueish mite with light red legs and mouthparts, on tree bark.

#MiteMonday: this weekend I got out to my sumo mite (_Allothrombium_) tree to catch some wrestling bouts!

It is some kind of sexual competition thing: certain males seem to stake out a little patch and aggressively defend it against all comers. The females, I think, are the larger ones who take little notice of the fights and mostly wedge themselves into crevices in bark? Courtship rituals seem to involve leg-tapping and walking around each other in circles. I am wildly curious about what's actually going on.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #SumoMites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Trombidiidae

Two red velvet mites, plump, wrinkly mites with broad "shoulders" and narrower butts, start to grapple on a lichen-speckled tree root shaded by grass.

Another pair of mites try to grip each other with their long front legs, just like sumo wrestlers. Their fuzzy pelts are easier to see in this photo.

One mite tries to sink its pedipalps into its opponent. They're also on a near-vertical surface.

The hollowed, gnarled tree root in the grass where all these dramas are taking place. If you zoom in you can see a number of mites near the centre. They are about 2-4mm in body length.

#MiteMonday: a red velvet mite (_Allothrombium_) sneakily snacks on midges from a spider's web. I also saw a red-winged blackbird eating a midge-filled spiderweb, too. At this time of year, the few spiders that overwintered catch so many midges that their webs almost collapse under the weight—more than they could possibly eat. I wonder how much midge biomass these spiders inadvertently make available to other animals!

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Trombidiidae

On a bright yellow-painted post, a plush red velvet mite sinks its mouthparts into a dead midge caught in spiderweb.

Did you know? Tiny penthaleid mites will sometimes wear water drops as hats. 🥰

(That's a total fuckin' lie, it's their excrement. Their anuses are located on their backs.)

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Penthaleidae #DorsalAnus

#Prostigmata

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