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Photo#1205471
Tiny Speck

Tiny Speck
Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
March 30, 2016
Size: <.5mm
Working on my computer tonight, I noticed the faint suggestion of the tiniest movement over a white area on my monitor. Staring at it, I confirmed it was in fact moving before I ran off to get my camera. Somehow I managed to locate it again when I got back, and snapped off 7 shots before it wandered over to a black edge of the monitor and was lost. This shot came out perhaps decent enough to share.

The dark colors behind it are the pixels in my screen, which is an Apple Cinemascreen, so nice and sharp, but not a Retina display, so these are not the teeny pixels.

I considered capturing it in case Ray asks for it, but couldn't figure out how to do so with something so tiny. I had to corral it away from the black edge before I could take photos of it, and that was difficult enough - hoping I wouldn't squish it with the edge of my fingernail.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tiny Speck Tiny Speck

Dust mite?
Size, body plan, and habitat are consistent with Dermatophagoides sp.

 
Could it be Tydeidae?
A friend suggested that, and it looks similar to those photos here.

 
"Habitat" :)
I like that. I laughed when I read that, thinking of my monitor as a "habitat" but I suppose it is. I forgot about such a mundane creature! Is it possible to photograph a dust mite with a camera (not a microscope)? I do have to say it was close to the limit of my ability to notice it.

Thank you!

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