Velvet Mite

That is an awesome picture of an awesome mite.

~Kai

Great depth of field for a lateral shot of something that small. You can see how legs I are used as antennae and the octopod mite is actually functionally hexapod (and you can also see the curved palps that are probably used to tap/taste the substrate as it walks along).

These mites are large and colourful enough to have a common name – red velvet mites – but under that name hides a heap of diversity and behaviours. What joins them all together is a terrestrial life style (water mites are their wet relatives), a parasitic hexapod larval stage, and an alternation of active and inactive stages during development. The red colour is due to carotenoids – probably originally for UV protection, but coopted into an aposematic warning in at least some species.

I’m guessing that this mite is a member of one of the five families in the Trombidioidea, in which case the larva would be an ectoparasite of an insect or other arthropod – little red 6-legged mites attached to soft cuticle by their mouthparts. If it were a Trombiculoidea, however, then you would know its larval stage as a chigger.

If I had a buck for every deleted and should be deleted photo of these red velvet mites I’ve taken, I’d be a lot richer than I am now. Awesome shot!

And thanks for the link.

Pretty cool little bugs. I took a video of one with my phone. 😀

http://www.filefactory.com/file/4vi11bo75eo1/n/RedBug_zip