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Red Spider Mite

Tetranychus Urticae

Photo by zoology100
Published on Project Noah
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38.999, -84.6266

Field Notes

Description:

Tiny, red mite

Notes:

Found on a stone in my driveway

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Although this photo is too blurry to offer an ID, I greatly doubt this is Tetranychus urticae. There is much confusion over the common name "spider mite", and it turns out that many unrelated mites are often called "spider mite"... even though this name only applies to the plant feeding Tetranychidae. All of that said, this is almost certainly an omnivorous mite capable of living exclusively on pollen (hence crawling around on your driveway). They are called concrete mites (Erythraeidae: Balaustium) and you can compare images here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/91443/bgimage.

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Photographed
PublishedMay 12, 2013

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