#arachnids — Public Fediverse posts

🕷️ Garden Cross Spider embalming its dinner.

https://piefed.social/c/photography@lemmy.world/p/2354885/garden-cross-spider-embalming-its-dinner

🕷️ Garden Cross Spider embalming its dinner.

https://piefed.social/c/photography@lemmy.world/p/2354885/garden-cross-spider-embalming-its-dinner

🕷️ Garden Cross Spider embalming its dinner.

https://piefed.social/c/photography@lemmy.world/p/2354885/garden-cross-spider-embalming-its-dinner

🕷️ Garden Cross Spider embalming its dinner.

https://piefed.social/c/photography@lemmy.world/p/2354885/garden-cross-spider-embalming-its-dinner

🕷️ Garden Cross Spider embalming its dinner.

https://piefed.social/c/photography@lemmy.world/p/2354885/garden-cross-spider-embalming-its-dinner

Some kind of Orb-weaver spider I think.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #michigan #animals #wildlife #photography #spider #spiders #arachnid #arachnids #web

Some kind of Orb-weaver spider I think.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #michigan #animals #wildlife #photography #spider #spiders #arachnid #arachnids #web

Some kind of Orb-weaver spider I think.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #michigan #animals #wildlife #photography #spider #spiders #arachnid #arachnids #web

Some kind of Orb-weaver spider I think.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #michigan #animals #wildlife #photography #spider #spiders #arachnid #arachnids #web

Some kind of Orb-weaver spider I think.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #michigan #animals #wildlife #photography #spider #spiders #arachnid #arachnids #web

Cellar spider, a week ago, and tonight. Look what she's done! New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/08/happy-event.html #VancouverIsland #Spiders #Arachnids #Invertebrates #InverteFest #NaturePhotography

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

#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 #MiteMonday: just a good old red velvet mite (_Allothrombium_).

Just imagine having a guinea pig-sized one, as a pet. It would be soft and squishy. It would enjoy squeezing into little crevices to nap. You could brush it, very gently. It wouldn't see very well. It could climb up things with little retractable claws. You could probably feed it mealworms.

#ArthroBeauty #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Parasitengona #Trombidiidae

#Arachtober 2: anystid renaissance! Commonly called whirligig mites for their constant frantic and erratic running, these large (~1 mm*) predatory mites in the family Anystidae have a population boom in early to mid-June and seem to increase in numbers again in autumn, at least around here. They eat aphids, small midges, each other, etc. This one seems to be eating some kind of barklouse (Psocodea)?

* Given that many mites are microscopic, any mite one can clearly see with the naked eye counts as "large".

#ArthroBeauty #LichenSubscribe #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

Anyway, #InternationalRockFlippingDay finds: a vine weevil (*Otiorhynchus* of some kind), and a bryobiine spider mite, see e.g. *Petrobia*.

#bugstodon #DailyMitePic #arachnids #mites #SpiderMites #insects #beetles #weevils #Coleoptera #Curculionidae #Entiminae #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae

31-Jul-2025
New #tarantula species so feisty, males evolved the longest #genitalia to survive #mating

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093326

A logical bug in the headline - in those species where the male doesn't survive mating, it's not because of falling short, it's because #evolution has no better use for them than serving as a meal for the female. In which case they can't evolve any protective measure. #science #arachnids #ecology #newSpecies

31-Jul-2025
New #tarantula species so feisty, males evolved the longest #genitalia to survive #mating

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093326

A logical bug in the headline - in those species where the male doesn't survive mating, it's not because of falling short, it's because #evolution has no better use for them than serving as a meal for the female. In which case they can't evolve any protective measure. #science #arachnids #ecology #newSpecies

31-Jul-2025
New #tarantula species so feisty, males evolved the longest #genitalia to survive #mating

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093326

A logical bug in the headline - in those species where the male doesn't survive mating, it's not because of falling short, it's because #evolution has no better use for them than serving as a meal for the female. In which case they can't evolve any protective measure. #science #arachnids #ecology #newSpecies

31-Jul-2025
New #tarantula species so feisty, males evolved the longest #genitalia to survive #mating

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093326

A logical bug in the headline - in those species where the male doesn't survive mating, it's not because of falling short, it's because #evolution has no better use for them than serving as a meal for the female. In which case they can't evolve any protective measure. #science #arachnids #ecology #newSpecies

31-Jul-2025
New #tarantula species so feisty, males evolved the longest #genitalia to survive #mating

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093326

A logical bug in the headline - in those species where the male doesn't survive mating, it's not because of falling short, it's because #evolution has no better use for them than serving as a meal for the female. In which case they can't evolve any protective measure. #science #arachnids #ecology #newSpecies

In other news, we have reached Peak Anystid, that short but precious time when it seems like every leaf has a plump little whirligig mite running around on it. They are avid predators and eating is practically the only time they stay still. Here are several from the garden.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

Happy #ThripsThursday! To everyone except this thrips on a fallen peony petal who was promptly eaten by a whirligig mite. I 🧡 my whirligig mites.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #bugstodon #insects #thrips #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae #Thysanoptera

For #MiteMonday: mites eating things.

1. Long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae, probably _Balaustium_) eating a midge
2. A whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating a globular springtail
3. A snout mite (family Bdellidae) eating a barklouse

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Erythraeidae #Anystidae #Bdellidae

Belated #MiteMonday: it's the time of year I start carrying a little water dropper bottle for the whirligig mites. I've found it's a reliable way to get them to stay still for photos. 💧

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

Little red mites of spring!

- A larval sidewalk mite (_Balaustium_) eating pollen
- A young whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating clover mite eggs (the little reddish balls)
- Sumo mites (_Allothrombium_) wrestling
- and lastly, a clover mite (_Bryobia_), which isn't really that red when full grown but which all of the other mites are frequently misidentified as. They won't be out much longer, they go dormant in the hot months.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Erythraeidae #Anystidae #Trombidiidae #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae

#MiteMonday: this weekend I got out to my sumo mite (_Allothrombium_) tree to catch some wrestling bouts!

It is some kind of sexual competition thing: certain males seem to stake out a little patch and aggressively defend it against all comers. The females, I think, are the larger ones who take little notice of the fights and mostly wedge themselves into crevices in bark? Courtship rituals seem to involve leg-tapping and walking around each other in circles. I am wildly curious about what's actually going on.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #SumoMites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Trombidiidae

#MiteMonday: a red velvet mite (_Allothrombium_) sneakily snacks on midges from a spider's web. I also saw a red-winged blackbird eating a midge-filled spiderweb, too. At this time of year, the few spiders that overwintered catch so many midges that their webs almost collapse under the weight—more than they could possibly eat. I wonder how much midge biomass these spiders inadvertently make available to other animals!

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #RedVelvetMites #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Trombidiidae

Did you know? Tiny penthaleid mites will sometimes wear water drops as hats. 🥰

(That's a total fuckin' lie, it's their excrement. Their anuses are located on their backs.)

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Penthaleidae #DorsalAnus

#MiteMonday: it's that time of year again! A sheet-web weaver's web in a willow tree crevice is carpeted with tiny _Bryobia_ clover mites.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae

#Arachtober 21: Happy #MiteMonday! Here's a snout mite (family Bdellidae) snacking on a long-legged velvet mite (family Erythraeidae). Taken back in June.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Bdellidae #Erythraeidae

#Arachtober 6: Here's an anystid. They seem to experience a burst of population growth in the fall, not nearly as much as Peak Anystid around June but still noticeable.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

A jumping spider (f. Salticidae) in the North Woods of Central Park in late May. This particular one was being a picky eater. It would grab one bug, pause for a moment, then drop it. It repeated this behavior for about 20 minutes before it finally settled on one that it actually wanted to eat.

#jumpingspliders #Salticidae #spiders #arachnids #nature #wildlife #macro #ultramacro #canonphotography #luminarneo #centralpark #nycparks

Unidentified Salticid, Sydney, 2021.

#nature #natur #naturephotograpy #wildlifephotography #naturfotografie #wildlife #naturelovers #gdtfoto #macro #macronature #macrophotography #makrofotografie #bugs
#invertebrates #invertmacro #spider #spidersofinstagram #arachnids #spiders
#arachnidsofinstagram #spidersoftheworld #salticidae #salticidsunday #jumpingspider #springspinne #arachnology #spinnen #macrodon