#redvelvetmites — Public Fediverse posts

#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

Red velvet mites (family Trombidiidae) seem to have retractable claws at the ends of their soft, stubby legs. They're barely big enough for me to get a photo of but I'm obsessed with them.

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

#MiteMonday: stopped by Trinity-Bellwoods today and was delighted to find that, despite the frosty ground, there were still red velvet mites (_Allothrombium_) out and about!

Bonus "accidental front camera" selfie. (POV: you're a red velvet mite)

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

#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

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

This one red velvet mite was very interested in a small insect pupa of some kind. https://youtu.be/TxRUAw3pqkA

#DailyMitePic #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Trombidiidae #Allothrombium #RedVelvetMites #macro

Enjoy 1:45 of red velvet mites (Trombidiidae) bumbling around in the leaf litter while a band jams in the background and _Lasius_(?) ants industriously excavate.

https://youtu.be/x1Y6JqGuoBQ

#DailyMitePic #DailyMiteVid #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Trombidiidae #Allothrombium #RedVelvetMites #macro