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neville park
@nev@flipping.rocks  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

#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

A robust mite covered in short plush red fur climbs up rough tree bark.
A robust mite covered in short plush red fur climbs up rough tree bark.
A robust mite covered in short plush red fur climbs up rough tree bark.
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neville park
@nev@flipping.rocks  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

#Arachtober 5: the last order of arachnids I have found, pseudoscorpions! They look kind of like scorpions without tails; they are found basically everywhere on earth but Antarctica, but they are absolutely tiny and live in places like under tree bark, under rocks and logs, in leaf litter, etc., so you will rarely see them unless you're looking for them. Sometimes they can be found clinging to the legs of larger flying insects with their little claws, or indoors eating booklice and other tiny household insects.

The ones in my garden are so small you might take them for mesostigmatid mites at first glance. This one has captured a soil-dwelling mite of some kind.

#iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99203146 inaturalist

#ArthroBeauty #arachnids #pseudoscorpions #Pseudoscorpiones #Cthoniidae

Another shot, from above . You can see the delicate sensory hairs on its claws, and hairs sticking out from its round butt (unlike a scorpion, it has no long stinger-tipped tail).
Another shot, from above . You can see the delicate sensory hairs on its claws, and hairs sticking out from its round butt (unlike a scorpion, it has no long stinger-tipped tail).
Another shot, from above . You can see the delicate sensory hairs on its claws, and hairs sticking out from its round butt (unlike a scorpion, it has no long stinger-tipped tail).
A tiny golden-brown arachnid with a pear-shaped body and translucent red-brown pincers similar to a scorpion's. It has seized a white mite of some kind in its chelicerae, which are also pincer-like. Glinting spots on either side of its head might be eyes, but I doubt they are functional beyond being able to see light and dark.
A tiny golden-brown arachnid with a pear-shaped body and translucent red-brown pincers similar to a scorpion's. It has seized a white mite of some kind in its chelicerae, which are also pincer-like. Glinting spots on either side of its head might be eyes, but I doubt they are functional beyond being able to see light and dark.
A tiny golden-brown arachnid with a pear-shaped body and translucent red-brown pincers similar to a scorpion's. It has seized a white mite of some kind in its chelicerae, which are also pincer-like. Glinting spots on either side of its head might be eyes, but I doubt they are functional beyond being able to see light and dark.
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neville park
@nev@flipping.rocks  ·  activity timestamp 6 days ago

#Arachtober 4: March mating mesostig madness!

These are an ubiquitous sort of soil-dwelling predatory mites, likely in the family Parasitidae (ironically, primarily predators) in the order Mesostigmata in the superorder Parasitiformes. They are only very distantly related to the whirligig mite I posted the other day, which is in superorder Acariformes. While the two superorders are traditionally grouped together under Acari, it is likely they don't share a common ancestor and should be treated separately. So I'm counting them as a different group!

#iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/275521159 inaturalist

Some pro-level photos and info about mesostigs: https://www.chaosofdelight.org/all-about-mites-mesostigmata

#ArthroBeauty #arachnids #mites #MiteSex #taxonomy #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata #Parasitidae

A Chaos of Delight

All about mesostigmatid mites - A Chaos of Delight

Mesostigmata are a usually free living order of often predatory mites in the soil and a member of the Parasitiformes.
A more top-down view. The mite in front has a pale gap between the red-brown shields or plates that cover the top and bottom half of its body, like a sandwich. It is a common mesostig feature.
A more top-down view. The mite in front has a pale gap between the red-brown shields or plates that cover the top and bottom half of its body, like a sandwich. It is a common mesostig feature.
A more top-down view. The mite in front has a pale gap between the red-brown shields or plates that cover the top and bottom half of its body, like a sandwich. It is a common mesostig feature.
On the underside of a piece of rotting wood are two glossy, teardrop-shaped red-brown mites, one upside down and clinging to the other with its legs. These mites' first pair of legs are thin and somewhat elongated, and they use them much like antennae.
On the underside of a piece of rotting wood are two glossy, teardrop-shaped red-brown mites, one upside down and clinging to the other with its legs. These mites' first pair of legs are thin and somewhat elongated, and they use them much like antennae.
On the underside of a piece of rotting wood are two glossy, teardrop-shaped red-brown mites, one upside down and clinging to the other with its legs. These mites' first pair of legs are thin and somewhat elongated, and they use them much like antennae.
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Federation Bot
@Federation_Bot  ·  activity timestamp last week

#Arachtober 3: meet a representative of another order of arachnids, Opiliones (a.k.a. harvesters, harvestmen, daddy-long-legs [though this can also refer to a kind of spider, crane flies, and even a plant]). They have some key differences from spiders: head and abdomen segments fused together; no silk or venom (i.e. they are entirely harmless); only two eyes; and instead of using pedipalps to transfer sperm during mating, they have an intromittent (insertable) organ, a penis or aedeagus.

I think this is the common species _Phalangium opilio_, introduced from Europe. There are several thousand different species in this order!

#ArthroBeauty #arachnids #Opiliones #Phalangiidae

Less magnified view that is still a bit too close to fit the ends of the legs in.
Less magnified view that is still a bit too close to fit the ends of the legs in.
Less magnified view that is still a bit too close to fit the ends of the legs in.
Close-up photo of an opilionid, an arachnid with one roundish body segment and extremely long skinny legs, sitting on a large rock. It is golden-brown with a dark brown splotch on its back. Its two beady little beyes are set in a raised tubercle near the front of its head.
Close-up photo of an opilionid, an arachnid with one roundish body segment and extremely long skinny legs, sitting on a large rock. It is golden-brown with a dark brown splotch on its back. Its two beady little beyes are set in a raised tubercle near the front of its head.
Close-up photo of an opilionid, an arachnid with one roundish body segment and extremely long skinny legs, sitting on a large rock. It is golden-brown with a dark brown splotch on its back. Its two beady little beyes are set in a raised tubercle near the front of its head.
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neville park
@nev@flipping.rocks  ·  activity timestamp last week

Let's kick off #Arachtober with some fall colours! This beautiful coppery jumping spider—_Eris rufa_, maybe, or _Pelegrina_?—reminded me of autumn leaves. Tried to get an even closer pic of its iridescent scales.

#ArthroBeauty #DailySpiderPic #spiders #JumpingSpiders #Araneae #Salticidae

Close-up shot from above. The jumping spider's dark head is covered in short, fine, pale hairs. Its brown abdomen is covered with many small flat scale-like hairs that produce a pastel iridescence, like those "holo" highlight pressed powders that were a popular makeup trend a while back.
Close-up shot from above. The jumping spider's dark head is covered in short, fine, pale hairs. Its brown abdomen is covered with many small flat scale-like hairs that produce a pastel iridescence, like those "holo" highlight pressed powders that were a popular makeup trend a while back.
Close-up shot from above. The jumping spider's dark head is covered in short, fine, pale hairs. Its brown abdomen is covered with many small flat scale-like hairs that produce a pastel iridescence, like those "holo" highlight pressed powders that were a popular makeup trend a while back.
A jumping spider on pine bark, seen from slightly above, its robust first pair of legs partly raised. It has a shiny copper-coloured abdomen, red-brown legs banded with a more golden brown (a sort of tortoiseshell colour scheme), and a black-brown head with a broad white band along each side. The tops of the pedipalps, too, are white.
A jumping spider on pine bark, seen from slightly above, its robust first pair of legs partly raised. It has a shiny copper-coloured abdomen, red-brown legs banded with a more golden brown (a sort of tortoiseshell colour scheme), and a black-brown head with a broad white band along each side. The tops of the pedipalps, too, are white.
A jumping spider on pine bark, seen from slightly above, its robust first pair of legs partly raised. It has a shiny copper-coloured abdomen, red-brown legs banded with a more golden brown (a sort of tortoiseshell colour scheme), and a black-brown head with a broad white band along each side. The tops of the pedipalps, too, are white.
neville park
@nev@flipping.rocks replied  ·  activity timestamp last week

#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

On lichen-covered tree bark, a squat orange-red mite hoists its prey, some small brown and white winged insect, seemingly in triumph. The mite's eyes are set very far apart; its smooth body has sparse pale spiky hairs sticking out; and its legs have a distinctly asterisk-like stance, all roughly the same length and splayed out evenly.
On lichen-covered tree bark, a squat orange-red mite hoists its prey, some small brown and white winged insect, seemingly in triumph. The mite's eyes are set very far apart; its smooth body has sparse pale spiky hairs sticking out; and its legs have a distinctly asterisk-like stance, all roughly the same length and splayed out evenly.
On lichen-covered tree bark, a squat orange-red mite hoists its prey, some small brown and white winged insect, seemingly in triumph. The mite's eyes are set very far apart; its smooth body has sparse pale spiky hairs sticking out; and its legs have a distinctly asterisk-like stance, all roughly the same length and splayed out evenly.
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