A striking #character of adult #mites in #Histiostomatidae (#Astigmata) is a highly #sclerotized area on the upper surface of #proterosoma. Its #latticelike #structure forms a #taxonomically relevant #symmetrical #pattern of windows, for which I introduced a #nomenclature in my PhD thesis. This area is a site of #muscleorigins (see #SEM section through a bigger specimen of #Acaridae).
©#StefanFWirth 2026

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#pics
©S.F. Wirth edit 2026

10 seconds of mite sex why not ⁦¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯⁩

#DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour • #Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

I can't even wait for #MiteMonday, this is too exciting, I have to share it now!!!

In Walter & Proctor's _Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour: Life at a Microscale_, there's this great image of mites in the family Acaridae mating, with the male facing backwards and his aedeagus (dick) inserted into the female's dorsal copulatory opening (bussy [back pussy]), so he is carried along on her back, a bit like a wheelbarrow race, but backwards.

Anyway this evening I was idly taking macro of the mites in the fruit fly culture when I SAW IT. It's easier to make out with video.

marked nsfw for graphic photos and videos of mite sex, you were warned

#Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour • #Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

#MiteMonday: Astig explosion!!!

I had been putting off making a new tub of fruit fly medium and excelsior for the flightless fruit flies, and discovered the other day that the current tub had quite the population of astigmatid mites, feeding off the same stuff and emerging in great numbers to swarm the outside of the tub during the warmest part of the day. I was actually pretty excited about this, as I hadn't personally seen an infestation of these since childhood, long before I started doing smartphone macrophotography (as a matter of fact, long before smartphones existed, but anyway…), and posts about them on bug ID forums are, for some reason, virtually always low-res shaky videos. So I actually had a chance to get up-close photos!

Astigs, which branched off from oribatids, are a large and diverse group. Some common species, largely in the family Acaridae (like _Acarus siro_ and _Tyrophagus putrescentiae_), are found around the world as pests of stored products. They may be called "grain mites", "mold mites", "flour mites", "cheese mites", etc. They are harmless, though in huge numbers (e.g. in a bakery, barn, or grain silo) they can spoil food.

I had just been using a pantyhose sock thing to cover the fruit fly tub, but I went out and got surgical masks so I can make something less porous. I'll also make a fresh batch of fruit fly medium and toss the old tub. That should help keep the mites at a more manageable level.

I can't ID these precisely—you really need an expert with a key and a microscope—but they're likely Acaridae of some kind.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

The #complex #mouthparts of #Acariformes #mites. As an example, here is the #SEM image of a non determined #mite from the #Acaridae (#Astigmata) #cut in the area of ​​the #proterosoma, #perspective towards #gnathosoma from #internally. Visible are the complex #muscles that #move the gnathosoma and partly (left) also the first pair of legs. #Photo from my early postdoc times, re-edited in 2024.
#evolution #Astigmatina

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2024

Today in #taxonomy

I don't normally link Scientific Reports because it's a trash journal, but I just wanted to call your attention to the mite _Tyrophagus curvipenis_. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36695-z

Original paper (Fain & Fauvel 1993):
 https://doi.org/10.1080/01647959308683544
 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:38631

Unlike scientific names with "-pennis", which actually means "feather", T. curvipenis is called that because it has a curved penis (image 1, from the 1993 paper).

Intromittent organs (penises or aedeagi) are relatively rare in arachnids, Opiliones being the exception. However, astigmatid mites evolved penises. In this family, Acaridae, the male sits backwards on the female, clinging on with specialized suckers, and inserts his penis into a special opening on her back (image 2, from Walter & Proctor's _Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour_).

#Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acaridae