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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
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Photo#1180685
Hitchhiker on Curculionidae

Hitchhiker on Curculionidae
Dunning Spring, Winneshiek County, Iowa, USA
June 16, 2015
Size: 3 mm
I can't quite tell what this is. Is it a mite?

Images of this individual: tag all
Curculionidae, dorsal - Magdalis pandura Curculionidae, lateral - Magdalis pandura Curculionidae, frontal - Magdalis pandura Hitchhiker on Curculionidae Curculionidae, ventral - Magdalis pandura

Uropodidae?
I think this may be a small cluster of uropodid mites attached to the beetle like this:

The arraignment and perhaps a spot of dirt for an "eye" coincidentally resembles an insect - a weevil actually. The "legs", then, would be secreted pedicels that hold them on. One can see what appears to be actual legs tucked in flush to the body on the lower one, like this:

 
Interesting.
I didn't know mites could attach in such a manner.
In retrospect, it might not be a mite on the weevil.

Moved
Moved from Magdalis pandura.

Moved
Moved from Magdalis.