#DailyMiteVid: whirligig mites (family Anystidae) are happy to eat each other, as you can see from this clip filmed today. I noticed that the mite being eaten seemed to still be alive and moving its limbs; it was only on re-watching the video that I realized it seemed to be cleaning one of its legs!

CW: slightly shaky video moving in & out of focus; mite being altogether too chill about being devoured alive by its fellow

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The sidewalk mites (_Balaustium_) that swarm over the ground this time of year primarily eat pollen, but they will also scavenge dead bugs (I do not think they are actually predatory). This horde has found an ant pupa, I think?

I am fascinated by this behaviour and try to catch it at least once every summer.

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Flipped over a piece of log on a big dead stump and there were tons of those little iridescent blue-purple springtails, but also several mesostigs. I was watching them hoping one would catch a springtail, and one seemed to be questing about for something. Then it chased after one of the other mites, flung itself on its back, and after some tumbling around ended up clinging to its underside. Then, this. I'm not even sure what's happening, I don't even know what appendages these mites use for sperm transfer.

edit: oh yeah I forgot to add they're totally having sex

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

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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

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🎶 It's just another mite, mite Monday… 🎶

The two little bumps on this _Balaustium_ sidewalk mite's head are organs called urnulae. For a very long time we didn't know what they were for. It was only in the past few decades that scientists learned the urnulae secreted chemicals that could deter insect attacks and alert fellow mites to danger: https://doi.org/10.1080/01647950608684438  / https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/01647950608684438  

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Going out in the middle of the day yesterday was a mistake but I did get to see three whirligig mites fighting over a midge. Real _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly_ moment.

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We're approaching Peak Anystid, with multiple plump, predatory little whirligig mites (family Anystidae) running frantically and erratically over every leaf. Here's just a few from one of the building's tiny little milkweed patches.

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The cherry trees are blooming in Trinity-Bellwoods! 🌸

…But I didn't dress up or bring a selfie stick or anything so instead I just rolled over some logs and took pictures of mites. I saw mesostigs trying to carry off springtails, plus one with some small prey (quite possibly another mite) in its mouthparts.

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