neville parkThe anystids in the garden were largely eating thrips today, it seems.
#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #bugstodon #arachnids #mites #insects #thrips #Acari #Acariformes #Anystidae #Thysanoptera
AND THEN. On the top of the very same chair I saw a cluster of small mites that, by their size and behaviour, I first took for clover mites (unusual, since it's now kind of hot for them.) But no. They were a kind of mite I'd never seen before in real life: rodent/bird mites!!!
No idea what they were doing there. The chair was under a tree, so I suppose a bird nest or part of it could have fallen down? No traces of one nearby, though.
As I was photographing the mites, a bunch got on me and my phone. While these mites *can* bite humans and cause itching (although they cannot reproduce with only us to feed on), this is not a big deal to me because I currently have eczema/heat rash and my entire body itches already. There's nothing they can do to me that hasn't already been done!!!
I'm kicking myself for not having any collecting vials on me, though.
#ArthroBeauty #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #BirdMites #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata #Dermanyssina #Dermanyssoidea #lifer
Note: while they don't follow the ectoparasite-then-predator life history typical of the much larger group they belong to, these little guys are not strict vegetarians and will also eat dead bugs, like this plant bug nymph. This was just a couple feet away from the group in the previous post.
#ArthroBeauty #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #bugstodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae
#DailyMitePic: Comrades, please, no fighting, there's enough pollen for everyone!
#Mitestodon #bugstodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae
#DailyMitePic: whirligig mites (family Anystidae) are voracious predators…including of each other. Spotted on the rain barrel earlier today.
#MiteMonday: The _Balaustium_ will continue until morale improves^W^W Peak Anystid is upon us
#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae
#BREAKING: the long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae) are out in force! They're the little red guys seen in large numbers running around on concrete and such, eating pollen, sap, dead bugs, and other plentiful springtime foods.
(Not 100% sure on genus for this particular one, will edit in later if I find out)
#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #bugstodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae
Garden arachnids from today:
- _Leucauge venusta_ spiderling has set up near the mosquito bucket
- male _Attulus fasciger_
- couldn't quite ID this smallish, cryptic-patterned jumper, any ideas? (🌎 Toronto, Ontario)
- bonus mite: pollen-eating _Balaustium_ have started to appear!
#SpiderSunday #DailySpiderPic #DailyMitePic #spiders #orbweavers #JumpingSpiders #mites #Araneae #Tetragnathidae #Salticidae #Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae
#MiteMonday: an oribatid mite, a slow-moving detritivore with hard, shell-like armour. This one was manoeuvring around some spider silk. I have the feeling it's one of those ones whose name ends in -zetes? @frankashwood would have a better idea.
#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Oribatida
Some arachnids from today:
- young _Mangora_ orbweaver
- _Naphrys pulex_ (I think?), considering some kind of hymenopteran
- and most excitingly, Trombidiidae that aren't _Allothrombium_! I'm not quite sure whether they're both _Trombidium_, the first one is oddly not velvety at all but more rough-textured, and more flat than plump, like Smarididae if it were trombidiid-shaped. I am going to upload the pics to BugGuide to see what the experts say.
#DailySpiderPic #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #spiders #mites #Araneae #Araneidae #Salticidae #Acari #Acariformes #Parasitengona #Trombidiidae
