mites, big mites!

metallica

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
2,512
here are some pics of mites @ 40x magnification, and the head @ 100x

enjoy.... or shiver

Eddy
 

shogun804

Arachnogeneral
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Messages
1,387
hey man those are some cool pics...those mites are nasty looking
 

brandi

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 19, 2004
Messages
155
wow, where did you get those photos? I'm assuming they are tarantula mites? I think its wierd, arachnids preying on arachnids. Just went through a nasty bout with snake mites... in a 40+ animal collection. ugh! hate those little buggers!
 

Spaceman_Spiff

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 26, 2004
Messages
222
Those are not necessarily parasites, I'm no expert but those look like Gamasida/Mesostigmata, there are parasites in this order (suborder?), but most are predators of other small invertebrates, such as other mites.
So they can be considered as beneficial!
Almost every predator or scavenger carries them, that's the way they travel from one foodsource to an other.

Thanks for the nice pictures!

Bernhard
 

metallica

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
2,512
don't know what they are, they came from a dead cricket in a T enclosure.
 
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