The triumphant return of #MiteMonday!
Spotted this unusually reddish penthaleid mite on a decaying tree stump. Note the small pale #DorsalAnus on its back towards the rear of the abdomen.
#bugstodon #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Penthaleidae
went to the park and flipped a log which was in icy ankle-deep slush but still yielded the usuals.
#bugstodon #insects #springtails #beetles #mites #Mitestodon #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata #Coleoptera #Staphylinidae #Collembola #Entomobryomorpha #Hymenoptera
Still the depths of winter here. I have been having dreams about bugs. I recently had a dream about finding plump whirligig mites everywhere: some their usual orange-red, others greenish because they had just eaten something green…I miss the mites.
Here are some whirligig mites I found a couple of years ago on a rock down by the lake, fighting over a dead midge. #iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/225382565 
#MiteMonday #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acariformes #Anystidae
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
#MiteMonday: a tiny _Podocinum_ mite found under a rock. Its extremely thin elongated front legs have forked hairs at the end, and it seems to use these legs like antennae to navigate.
Much better pictures here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/514391
#Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata #Podocinidae
#Arachtober 28: clover mite (_Bryobia_) in a bright patch of lichen.
#ArthroBeauty #LichenSubscribe #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #CloverMites #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae
#Arachtober 25: now for something entirely different, a penthaleid mite (https://bugguide.net/node/view/263374) feeding on a dandelion leaf. Species like the common _P. major_ (which this probably is) have a #DorsalAnus and excrete these globules as they feed, often hanging upside down on the undersides of leaves or vertically on blades of grass.
(If you think a dorsal anus is wild, certain astig females have secondary dorsal genital openings for copulation.)
#ArthroBeauty #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Penthaleidae
#Arachtober 23: witnessed some interesting behaviour between two long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae, likely genus _Balaustium_) on a tree trunk. They were circling each other and drumming their legs, similar to what I've seen courting _Allothrombium_ red velvet mites doing. I am going to email a mite expert and see what they think!
Unfortunately somewhat shaky video here: https://youtu.be/eGYU6fMfm_Q
#ArthroBeauty #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Parasitengona #Erythraeidae
#Arachtober 21: dreams can come true (if your dream is finding a snout mite https://flipping.rocks/@nev/115403746846167689)
#ArthroBeauty #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Bdellidae #LichenSubscribe
#Arachtober 20: a tiny oribatid or beetle mite, likely suborder Mixonomata (https://bugguide.net/node/view/238862), ubiquitous dwellers of soil and leaf litter, armoured decomposers.
#ArthroBeauty #MiteMonday #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Oribatida #Mixonomata
neville park