neville parkJul 31, 2023

For #MiteMonday, I saw this interesting interaction between a red velvet mite and an aphid the other day!

I've seen *larval* red velvet mites parasitizing aphids—latched on like ticks—and I've seen adult red velvet mites preying on aphids, but it looked like this small but adult red velvet mite was parasitizing the aphid??

After I took the first picture the mite started to climb off the aphid, showing it was clearly old enough to be free-living. (1/2)

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #Acari #Trombidiidae #macro

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#MiteMonday continued: the mite decided to disembark by going between the aphid's cornicles, the two spikes sticking up from its butt, but found it a tight squeeze! It did manage to get off though. It briefly sat beside the aphid before wandering off.

This'll go up on iNaturalist  when I've gotten through my photo backlog. But if anyone on here can provide more insight, I'm all ears! (2/2)

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #Acari #Trombidiidae #macro

Jul 31, 2023 at 1:27pmWeb