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#mitebehaviour — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mitebehaviour, aggregated by home.social.

  1. #MiteMonday: paid an impromptu visit to my usual mite tree down by the lake! Things are busy. Saw some fighting, although much of it was over food (dead bugs).

    These are sumo mites (_Allothrombium_), in the red velvet mite family (a Trombidiidae).

    #bugstodon #Mitestodon #RedVelvetMites #MiteBehaviour #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Trombidiidae

  2. #MiteMonday: paid an impromptu visit to my usual mite tree down by the lake! Things are busy. Saw some fighting, although much of it was over food (dead bugs).

    These are sumo mites (_Allothrombium_), in the red velvet mite family (a Trombidiidae).

    #bugstodon #Mitestodon #RedVelvetMites #MiteBehaviour #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Trombidiidae

  3. #MiteMonday: paid an impromptu visit to my usual mite tree down by the lake! Things are busy. Saw some fighting, although much of it was over food (dead bugs).

    These are sumo mites (_Allothrombium_), in the red velvet mite family (a Trombidiidae).

    #bugstodon #Mitestodon #RedVelvetMites #MiteBehaviour #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Trombidiidae

  4. #MiteMonday: paid an impromptu visit to my usual mite tree down by the lake! Things are busy. Saw some fighting, although much of it was over food (dead bugs).

    These are sumo mites (_Allothrombium_), in the red velvet mite family (a Trombidiidae).

    #bugstodon #Mitestodon #RedVelvetMites #MiteBehaviour #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Trombidiidae

  5. #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

    #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Anystidae

  6. 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.

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Parasitengona #Erythraeidae

  7. 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

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour #Acari #Mesostigmata

  8. 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

    #Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

  9. 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

    #Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

  10. 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

    #Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

  11. 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

    #Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

  12. 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

    #Mitestodon #DailyMiteVid #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Acariformes #Acaridae

  13. #Arachtober 23: from June, a long-legged velvet mite (family Erythraeidae) climbs into a silk retreat over the exuvia (molted exoskeleton) of the jumping spider (family Salticidae) that previously occupied it. This is not the first time I have seen mites using old spider retreats for shelter!

    #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour #DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #JumpingSpiders #spiders#Acari #Acariformes #Erythraeidae #Araneae #Salticidae

  14. 🎶 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: doi.org/10.1080/01647950608684 :ClosedAccess: / sci-hub.se/10.1080/01647950608 :scihub:

    #MiteMonday #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour#Acari #Erythraeidae

  15. 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.

    #Mitestodon #DailyMitePic #arachnids #mites #MiteBehaviour #Acari #Anystidae

  16. 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.

    #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Anystidae #MiteBehaviour

  17. 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.

    #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #bugstodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Mesostigmata #MiteBehaviour

  18. Saturday night's all right for (sumo mite) fighting

    edit: you can also see much smaller clover mites (_Bryobia_) moving around in the periphery. They are the bluish ones with threadlike pink-orange legs. That is their full size. For comparison, the sumo mites are like 4mm tops?

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Trombidiidae #Allothrombium #MiteBehaviour

  19. That Lady and the Tramp scene with the spaghetti, but it's these sumo mites (_Allothrombium_) feeding on a dead midge (family Chironomidae).

    Also later they started fighting, but I'm not sure if they were fighting over the midge or just regular sumo mite fighting.

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Trombidiidae #Allothrombium #MiteBehaviour

  20. #Arachtober 27: The trunk of a regal yellow tree (linden or something similar?) was busy with mites. I found a tiny cobweb spider feeding on a whirligig mite, and a red velvet mite feeding on prey in another cobweb spider's web!

    #DailySpiderPic #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #spiders #mites #Acari #Anystidae #Trombidiidae #Araneae #Theridiidae

  21. back on my bullshit (filming whirligig mites)

    this one briefly stopped to groom its leg before zooming off. they always act like staying in one spot for 5 seconds is an impossible ordeal.

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Anystidae #MiteBehaviour

  22. #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 :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

  23. 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

  24. Taken solstice day down by the lake. I watched these sidewalk mites chasing each other away from a dead midge, until only one was left still feeding—at which point it and the midge were blown away in the breeze.

    As I've previously mentioned, try putting "Yakety Sax" on in the background for the full comedic effect.

    YouTube version (HD, with sound, not that it makes a huge difference): youtu.be/00a92QNqY4g

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Erythraeidae #MiteBehaviour #macro

  25. #MiteMonday: It's crowded in the garden during Peak Anystid! Yesterday I saw a whirligig mite (family Anystidae) eating a small plant bug (family Miridae) when a second mite came along and had a bite. The first mite stopped feeding, but did keep one foot on the bug, as if to call dibs. It wasn't long before a third mite happened upon the kill and also helped itself to the bug.

    #DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #mites #Acari #Anystidae #bugs #insects #Miridae

  26. Just in under the wire for #MiteMonday: long-legged velvet mites (family Erythraeidae, probably _Balaustium_) feeding on pollen which I believe fell off a honey locust tree?

    #ArthroBeauty #Mitestodon #MiteBehaviour #arachnids #mites #Acari #Erythraeidae #macro

  27. For this #MiteMonday: while watching the vast clover mite rookeries, I saw tiny juvenile whirligig mites racing around, feeding on the eggs right under the clover mites' noses!

    #MiteBehaviour, especially between different taxa, is endlessly fascinating to me (as you may have guessed.)

    youtu.be/AOWPA-WkONg

    #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Anystidae #Tetranychidae #Bryobiinae #macro