May 9th, 2006
she wore red velvet
Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a wonderful shot of a Velvet Mite, but they’re not easy to photograph. I’ve been trying for a couple of days now, and these have to be the most frantic, hyperactive creatures to photograph — almost always on the move as they skitter along over tree bark or soil.
Let me just begin by saying that I don’t know a heck of a lot about Velvet Mites. In fact, that’s part of the reason for posting something about them today — because it forced me to spend a bit of time thinking about them and looking up a few facts. The other reason is that they happen to be rather conspicuous at this time of the year. I see them while I’m working in the vegetable garden, and also while looking for insects and spiders while wandering around on my insect walks a couple of times a day.
Here are a few basic details. First, Velvet Mites aren’t insects, but instead belong to the Order Acarina, which, in turn, belongs to the Class Arachnida, the class that includes spiders, scorpions, mites, water mites, ticks, among others. These arthropods have eight legs instead of the six legs of insects. They also have a variety of body forms not restricted to the usual head-thorax-abdomen of insects. They have chelicerae – fang-bearing appendages in front of the mouth.
Velvet Mites belong to the Family Trombidiidae. Try as I might (or should that be “mite”), I can’t seem to say “Trombidiidae” — it doesn’t roll off my tongue too well, so I’m glad to be writing about these mites and not trying to talk about them. Seems that the number of families, species, etc… is still in some disarray. If interested, you can read more about the systematics, life history and other details of Velvet Mites in a paper entitled Biology and ecology of trombidiid mites, by Zhi-Qiang Zhang (Experimental & Applied Acarology, 22 (1998) 139–155). There’s quite a lot of information in this paper, so it’s definitely worth a read if you’re interested in these creatures.
In a nutshell, what is there to know about Velvet Mites? First thing — and this goes into the “I didn’t know that!” file — is that it seems that the little red “mites” that I’ve been seeing on many insects such as craneflies, leafhoppers and grasshoppers, and also on arachnids such as spiders and opiliones (harvestmen), are the ectoparasitic larval stage of the Velvet Mite. At a later stage, the larvae become free-living predators like the adults, but in their earlier life cycle, they attach themselves to insects and arachnids in order to feed. The photo below shows a Buffalo Treehopper which I photographed a year or two ago. Notice all of the little red mites attached to its legs and body. I’ve frequently found insects that are carrying a pretty big load of these red mites — in fact, I’ve seen craneflies so loaded with them that they were barely able to fly. The above-mentioned paper contains a lot of fascinating information on the parasite-host relationship of these mites. For example, it is suggested that the larvae may be able to locate suitable hosts by the sounds made by the hosts (cricket chirps, etc…).
As adults or in the late larval stage, Velvet Mites eat the eggs of many insects, and also small prey such as aphids. Apparently, they are also cannibalistic, and the mite larvae will also feed on them – apparently it’s one of those “what goes around, comes around” situations. It seems that Velvet Mites may not have too many natural enemies – probably due to their distastefulness — their warning colour being just that — a warning to would-be predators, “I taste dreadful so go away!” They are also supposed to do some kind of mating dance — this I have to see! Rest-assured, if I happen across this sometime, I’ll be sure to shoot some fotos and a video clip to post here!
May 9th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
I just stumbled upon your site today due to comments you left on Dharma Bums blog.
Oh, my! Your photographs! Your knowledge! I’m just blown away.
I never even *noticed* velvet mites. How sad is that? I will be paying closer attention. Your eyes on the world are wonderful.
May 9th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Hi Leslie – Thanks! Glad you found your way here. I don’t think you’re alone in not noticing velvet mites. However, now that you know more about them, I’m sure you’ll be seeing them all over as I’m sure they’re present in garden soil everywhere. While working in my vegetable garden today, I must have seen more than a dozen.
May 10th, 2006 at 3:32 am
Your photoghraphs are beautiful. I’ve never seen a velvet mite before. The buffalo treehopper with mites is simply a stunning photograph. Now I am going to have to take a closer look at the soil. I just can’t imagine that I’ve missed this royal red beauty!
I am trying to sign this with my real first and middle names. I am the blogger formerly known as Rexroth’s daughter. I’m not sure it will let me!
May 10th, 2006 at 8:37 am
I think I accidently photographed a Velvet Mite just the other day. I need to take another look. On the other hand, I don’t recall seeing them in our garden during my digging. Mind you, the digging and my sore back don’t lend themselves to too many other observations. Maybe if I observe more and dig less my back will thank me?
May 10th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
RA – Thanks! I’m pretty sure that velvet mites should be plentiful all over, so just watch for them in the garden — the little red specks moving about in the soil. I also see many on tree bark, but again, they’re pretty small and require some looking. And yes, your new sign-in worked fine.
O.W. – Velvet Mites are small enough that you might not see them from digging height unless you’re really watching for them. At sitting-on-the-ground-weeding height, they should definitely be visible as they navigate their way over what, to them, must be rather like walking over a moon landscape. (-:
May 11th, 2006 at 10:22 am
I’ve seen these vivid guys patrolling along the soil surface and even recognized them as mites but never pursued more knowledge of them. Which just goes to show that I can put things of interest on the backburner too.
Thanks for the description and explanations. I’m going to have to start watching out for them burdening other insects.
May 11th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Wayne – I know what you mean about putting things of interest on the backburner. Happens to me all of the time. I see so many fascinating things and mean to follow up on them, but there are only so many hours in the day, so….. well…. some things drift off to the edges for future consideration. (-:
June 5th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
[…] Also found yesterday, and this is a first sighting for this particular location, were two very large, colourful Pleasing Fungus Beetles (Megalodacne sp.) feeding on the Artist’s Conk brackets (see below – click on image for larger view).[…]
March 26th, 2007 at 8:22 am
[…] Saturday, Don and I hiked a loop over several trails at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, stopping to photograph some mosses, a few remnants of what looked to be a Northern Flying Squirrel that must have been dropped by a predator (I’m sparing you the photo), and some Red Velvet Mites that we found wandering over a lichen-covered rock. Although it was a cool, overcast day, typical of early spring here in eastern Ontario, we saw signs of life everywhere. I’m often asked how we find so much stuff while out wandering around, and the simple answer is that we just spend some time looking. […]