#mites — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mites, aggregated by home.social.
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#Astigmata #mites are characterized by a separation between egg and #copulationopening. In Histiostomatidae, the latter is located dorsally. Its #morphology can remarkably vary depending on the species. The #myrmecophilous #Histiostoma sp. ex lab colony of #Solenopsis #invicta has a bulb shaped one with very small opening.
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S.F. Wirth & J.C. Moser (2010)
https://doi.org/10.1051/acarologia/20101979 -
Female #antalates can serve as #vectors for introducing #phoreticorganisms, such as #mites, from an established #colony into a newly founded #nest. Hitching a ride on a #youngqueen can be a key #dispersalstrategy for #myrmecophilous #phoreticmites.
However, some #phoretic species also utilize other routes, such as via #workerants.
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Reading:
H. Klompen & K. U. Campbell (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-024-01003-z -
Today I did my monthly biodiversity survey by bike along the Summit Road of the Port Hills of Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. And, along it I found the first ever Canterbury record, and second South Island record, of the toatoa bud gall mite, *Aceria victoriae*. 😀
These native mites make distinctive galls on the NZ native plant, toatoa (*Haloragis erecta*). Yet, after they were described as a species from specimens collected in Wellington in 1956/57, nobody recorded them. That is, until Nicholas Martin found them in Auckland in 2012. Nicholas Martin put out the call for entomologists to look for them, yet only a few more were found, and all in Auckland. I looked and couldn't find them around Christchurch.
Then, last year, Lisa Bennett on #iNaturalist found them in Wellington and Joseph Knight found them on Otago Peninsula. Inspired by their finds, I was looking carefully for them today and found one plant with the galls.
It's a mystery why they've been so cryptic as their host plant is common. I think it underscores how little we still know about the little creatures that live in NZ with us.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/projects/hunt-for-the-toatoa-bud-gall-mite
#NZ #NaturalHistory #entomology #mites #discovery #CitizenScience
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#mites of the #Astigmata (#Acariformes) are soft-skinned. Their thin #cuticle is sensitive to #drought, which is why they avoid leaving their mostly #moist #fungus- and bacteria-rich #habitats. For the purpose of #dispersal, a modified instar, the #deutonymph, with stronger cuticle and other specific #adaptations #evolved, performing #phoresy, the transport most often via larger arthropods.
© #StefanFWirth, July 2026, Berlin#Photo:
#Adult female of #Histiostoma sp. © Stefan F. Wirth -
#Mites of the #Astigmata (#Sarcoptiformes, #Acariformes), such as #Histiostomatidae shown here, practice #direct #spermtransfer via #copulatoryorgans in #males and #females. An #evolutionary #innovation derived from #spermatophoretransfer without copulation in #Oribatidmites. Advantage: a huge egg can develop and new sperm can be stored simultaneously.
©#StefanFWirth, July 2026Please support my research
https://ko-fi.com/sfwirth#SEM #photos
©S.F.Wirth: #Histiostoma #palustre, H. sp, #aedeagus -
In #Astigmata #mites #ovipore and #copulatory organ are spatially separated, an #evolutionary innovation that allows #spermtransfer, its #storage in the receptaculum seminis, and #egglaying to occur simultaneously. W. Witalinski (2014) described the #oogenetic and #inseminatory (secondary) #system.©#StefanFWirth
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W.Witalinski (2014)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2014.04.003#SEM#photos
©S.F.Wirth, #Histiostoma #maritimum,H. #palustre, H. cf. #pulchrum -
“ #Mites & #spiders are #arachnids and they eat each other, they also have toxins in their #venom that target each other. Spider venom #peptides "organic" way of killing mites doesn't accumulate in the food chain; doesn't kill the farmer or the beekeeper or any pets — it's selective to the #varroa mite," Dr Herzig said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-02/spider-venom-varroa-mite-research-honey-bees/106862586
(Note 1,700 native bee species have a very different biology from European honeybees.
https://www.aussiebee.com.au/varroa-mite-crisis.html ) -
Under adverse conditions, #astigmatid #mites develop a special nymphal stage: the #deutonymph (shown here: #Histiostoma #sapromyzarum, living specimen). It's a #heteromorphic stage that serves the purpose of #phoretictransport and a result of a #metamorphosis into a juvenile stage lacking a mouth but possessing gonadal primordia and a rudimentary midgut.
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Further reading
P.B. Klimov et al. (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94367-2#Photos
©S.F.Wirth,2026 -
@nev it can happen that for example depending on the #mobility of the #beetle species and its #strategy to perform its #selfcleaning #behaviors that #phoretic and #parasitic #mites can be limited to small numbers only on an even relatively large #beetle. Most Scarabaeidae develop in #soilhabitats. But when it is #decayingwood or #compost, then this improves the probability that it has associations with phoretic mites. In beetles, #phoreticmites can sometimes be hidden under the elytrae.
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A beetle mite with its own pet mite riding on its back. This thing is miniscule. I think I took this at nearly 4.5x. There were a few of these in the soil near one of the pill louse I just posted.
#Nature #Photography #Mites #Orbatid #Galumnidae #Arthropods
#SriLanka #SoilFauna #Soil -
The beetle #Valgus #hemipterus is a not very rare inhabitant of Southern Europe and #CentralEurope. The #specimen shown here flew onto my windowsill in #Berlin. It harbored unidentified #mites of the #Uropodina and of #Laelapidae with the latter having conspicuous strongly developed chelicerae. The Uropodinae are #phoretic and Laelapidae either phoretic or facultatively #parasitic.©#StefanFWirth
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©S.F.Wirth -
This is for @nev: a tiny ladybug (much smaller than the usual sort I see) I think it's Hudsonian Ladybird Mulsantina hudsonica that found its way into a bucket of water I had for watering plants. I fished it out with a dandelion leaf + set it on a bench. Then I quickly switched to micro lens + returned for pics luckily it hadn't moved off yet + I got the bonus of seeing it had a rider! (not sure if the ladybug would consider that a bonus!)
#beetle #insects #Arthropods #mites #nature #Alberta -
RE: https://scicomm.xyz/@dantheclamman/116196703399022292
How do #animals #aggregate?#Mites can find each other based on #pheromones, while #sight is important for herd-forming #mammals. In #marine #habitats, #hearing plays a major role. D.McAfee et al.(2022) showed that #oyster #larvae react to the #soundscape of a healthy #reef via #statocysts in front of their bodies, thus finding their adult conspecifics for #reefformation. Reef formation can be artificially #stimulated via artificial #soundwaves.
©#StefanFWirth 2026
Ref
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14307 -
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
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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
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Very small #mites are subject of my research as they are associated with other arthropods (#phoretic#dispersal), and even #influence the #microclimate in their #habitats in complex ways, by fungal #spore transport+chemical fungal growth regulation via own #fungicides. #Histiostoma #sapromyzarum is subject of my current#Behance project exploring it also #aestheticslly.
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https://www.behance.net/gallery/244398767/Fragile-Transparency -
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 :inaturalist:
#MiteMonday #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acariformes #Anystidae
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A striking #character of adult #mites in #Histiostomatidae (#Astigmata) is a highly #sclerotized area on the upper surface of #proterosoma. Its #latticelike #structure forms a #taxonomically relevant #symmetrical #pattern of windows, for which I introduced a #nomenclature in my PhD thesis. This area is a site of #muscleorigins (see #SEM section through a bigger specimen of #Acaridae).
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©S.F. Wirth edit 2026 -
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I am performing #science, #sciencecommunication and #arts, often combining arts/science. My #topicrange is wide, it reaches from titan #isopods over the behaviors of the Mediterranean #Junebeetle and even over an #animated #video about the #Cambrianexplosion towards #phoretic #mites of the #Histiostomatidae. Here H. sp. from rotting #lemonfruits. Please support my work. -
#Mouthparts in #mites of the #Acariformes are usually normal shaped as typical for #arachnids. The #chelicerae are the feeding organs consisting of digitus fixus and d. mobilis. #Pedipalps have sensing functions with different kinds of #sensoryorgans. In #Histiostomatidae (#Astigmata) the whole #gnathosoma is modified into a complex #filterfeeding organ that creates an #underpressure on #food surfaces.
© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2026Reference
S. F. Wirth (2023)
https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GSP/GSOIL4N/GSOIL4N-Posters/ID_167.pdf -
#Mites of the #Histiostomatidae live in #darkness in their #ephemeral #microhabitats. The distinctive deutonymphs are the #dispersal stage, being transported by insects. #Adults, however, live freely and #communicate via complex #olfactorysignals. An important #glandularcomplex is located on the dorsal body side. I participated in a study about the #geranial-rich glandular #secretions (2012).
© #StefanFWirth 24 Dec. 2025
Ref
https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2012.662247
©S.F. Wirth, Histiostoma sp.
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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
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NEW ZEFRANK about mites and spiders using static electricity! Also some other non-arachnid organisms I guess https://youtu.be/DxSrU-rqs7A
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#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
