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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
Details...
 
Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Photo#13629
mite sp. ?

mite sp. ?
Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
August 28, 2004
The body was almost the size of a Harvestman. It was walking around similar to and at the same speed as a Harvestman.
Any idea what this is ?

Moved
Moved from Mites.

Another possibility..
This site http://www.fofriedrichpark.org/essays/harvestmen.shtml states "The species that you usually see when entering the restrooms at Friedrich is Leiobunum townsendi. It is rather famous for the dense clusters that it forms, sometimes consisting of thousands of individuals. (By contrast, most related species form aggregations of only 20–30 individuals.) Another of its distinguishing characteristics is the alternating light and dark bands of the legs. You might occasionally spot one of the two short-legged species if you look closely at the walls, especially near the concrete floors, This particular species tends to have a body that is noticeably orange in color, but its most obvious characteristic is that its legs are much shorter relative to the length of the body than in L. townsendi. While I have not conclusively identified this species, it is likely a member of genus Eumesosoma or Vonones."

 
nice work
I checked out the sites you found, and the harvestmen Eumesosoma and Vonones description sounds close, but the only images I could find were your Vonones pictures on this guide(very nice), and I think this mystery bug looks closer to the Erythraeidae mite on the other site you found, but don't trust my opinion. Thanks.

Googled Again
Here is a mite that reaches half a centimeter and has long legs...http://whalonlab.msu.edu/mites/Mite_Website/Predator_Mites/Predator_Mites.htm It's the fourth photo down Family Erythraeidae.

Googled
I googled for a while on this one, but no luck. I tried red banded legs, mites and harvestmen. I will be curious to see what it is.

Interesting
I was going to say it was one of those harvestman with shorter legs but I think we would see a noticeably segmented abdomen. This really does look like a mite with unusually long legs.

I'm interested to see if anyone can narrow this one down some.

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